Photo credit (edited), photo credit (edited), fair use
Suppose that at a recent physician visit your doctor advised you of a need to take better care of your heart. You admitted to consuming too many processed foods, sources of sugar, and alcohol. Also, you confessed to not receiving adequate physical exercise or sleep.
In this scenario, let’s presume that access to optimal intervention strategies is unlimited. Money is no barrier to success in your case. Following your physician’s advisement, you procure the services of professionals you believe will help improve heart health.
Taking a holistic approach to this matter, you conceptualize the heart as a physiological organ as well as one pertaining to psychological matters and even that which includes the concept of a spiritual element. For instance, your physical heart may require the attention of a cardiologist.
The mental, emotional, and behavioral health aspects of your conceptualized heart may benefit from a psychotherapist. As well, the spiritual representation of heart health may involve consultation with a preacher.
Wellness is an active approach to health that involves awareness of and choices toward a more meaningful life, often involving goals. Thus, when your physician referenced heart health, you envisioned a well-rounded approach to your overall well-being.
Still, planning for wellness isn’t enough. Wellness is an active process. Since money is no object to you, you retain the services of a chiropractor, massage therapist, personal trainer, nutritionist, yoga instructor, sleep coach, physical therapist, psychiatrist, and psilocybin facilitator.
I’m not even sure how some of these professions could help, though you’re really going for it! You’re taking your wellness seriously. Or, at least that may’ve been the case early on in your journey of well-being.
Notice: It’s a journey of and not toward well-being, because wellness isn’t a destination – it’s a process. Shortly after your physician advised you to take better care of your heart, you took action. After a few weeks have since passed, where are you along your journey?
Let’s suppose you’re a fallible human being (as am I) and your initial motivation and energy to improve has waned. If you tell yourself, “I’m leaving it up to the professionals” or “experts” to do the work, though you don’t put forth much effort, how much success will you likely achieve?
You meet with your physician every three months or so. You see your chiropractor weekly. Maybe you engage with your yoga instructor and personal trainer three times per week. However, you don’t commit to your wellness connections through action along your journey.
How much progress will you achieve through inaction? While you’re contemplating a response, let’s alter the scenario a bit. Suppose you began in stage A, at risk of heart disease, though are now in stage B of heart failure—a more progressed form of your medical condition.
Additionally, like arguably most of the people on earth, money actually is a barrier to quality care in your case. You can afford only one or two of the aforementioned intervention strategies. For now, you stick with your physician and psychotherapist, as you’ll pray on your own.
Still, you remain confident that your doctor and therapist know what they’re doing and that whatever deity to whom you pray hears your pleas. You’re comfortable talking to each of these entities, though you avoid discomfort of taking active measures toward improving your health.
How well do you think you’ll be with underutilized wellness connections for which you’ve willingly committed the finite resource of money, yet without actively doing difficult things outside of treatment or management settings? Yours is an easily testable hypothesis.
You simply do nothing other than relying on others to tend to your well-being and you’ll find out soon enough how processed sugar, too much sodium, alcohol consumption, and processed bacon will impact your journey of well-being. Testing a hypothesis in this manner has consequences.
Are you willing to roll those proverbial dice? Many people are. In fact, lots of people do. After all, heart disease is reportedly the leading cause of death in the United States.
In any case, you don’t have to be a passive participant regarding your health. Maintaining wellness connections is only part of the process of well-being. Putting in effort – doing, at times, truly challenging tasks – on your own may be worth considering.
Besides, eating tasty fast food is relatively easy. Doing the easy thing likely led you to an unpleasant appointment with your physician in the scenario described herein.
However, actively performing difficult measures outside of a professional setting is where the real work often takes place. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to appropriately utilize your wellness connections while also doing difficult things on your own (e.g., physical training).
If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
American Heart Association, Inc. (n.d.). Classes and stages of heart failure. Retrieved from https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-failure/what-is-heart-failure/classes-of-heart-failure
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Leading causes of death. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
Freepik. (n.d.). Hand drawn heart drawing illustration [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/hand-drawn-heart-drawing-illustration_151106458.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=13&uuid=daea8cc8-6757-4d38-b78f-347704537cbe
Hollings, D. (2023, October 21). Appeal to authority. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/appeal-to-authority
Hollings, D. (2022, March 15). Disclaimer. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/disclaimer
Hollings, D. (2024, February 25). Doing the work. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/doing-the-work
Hollings, D. (2024, January 3). Expertise. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/expertise
Hollings, D. (2023, September 8). Fair use. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/fair-use
Hollings, D. (2024, May 11). Fallible human being. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/fallible-human-being
Hollings, D. (2023, October 12). Get better. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/get-better
Hollings, D. (2024, April 13). Goals. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/goals
Hollings, D. (2022, May 31). Holistic approach to mental health. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/holistic-approach-to-mental-health
Hollings, D. (n.d.). Hollings Therapy, LLC [Official website]. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/
Hollings, D. (2023, September 19). Life coaching. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/life-coaching
Hollings, D. (2024, March 4). Mental, emotional, and behavioral health. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/mental-emotional-and-behavioral-health
Hollings, D. (2023, September 3). On feelings. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/on-feelings
Hollings, D. (2024, May 5). Psychotherapist. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/psychotherapist
Hollings, D. (2024, June 19). Treatment vs. management. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/treatment-vs-management
Juicy_fish. (n.d.). Heart red gradient [Image]. Freepik. Retrieved from https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/heart-red-gradient_170990291.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=35&uuid=daea8cc8-6757-4d38-b78f-347704537cbe
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