Compassionate Therapy for Chronic Illness in Calgary
Impacts of Mental Health Due to Chronic Illness
Your mind and body are inextricably linked. So when one is off-balance, it affects the other. When you live with a medical condition or chronic illness, it can have a profoundly negative impact on your mental health.
The emotional stress and everyday health concerns you deal with give you a higher chance of developing depression and anxiety.
But you don’t have to go through it alone…
Living With a Chronic Illness is Draining
Living with pain, discomfort, and unpredictable flare-ups wears on you. The struggle negatively affects every aspect of your life. Your mental health, quality of life, self-confidence, and mood decline while your stress rises. The depression, irritability, and despair you feel have caused you to become someone unrecognizable.
Whether you’re dealing with unresolved and undiagnosed symptoms, pain, insomnia, or an autoimmune condition, I understand that it’s a lot to handle.
But I want you to know that you don’t have to continue feeling this way. You can get back to yourself again and genuinely thrive in your life. As your chronic illness therapist, I can help.
Get Quality Psychological Help for Dealing With Chronic Illness
The relationship between your chronic illness and distress is bidirectional. In other words, your illness causes you to stress, and your stress exacerbates your illness. It’s a frustrating and exhausting cycle for which you may need professional help to break.
As a licensed psychologist trained in health psychology, I understand physical conditions significantly impact your psychological well-being. From working in various medical settings for many years, I’ve seen the tremendous positive benefits of psychological interventions when dealing with chronic illness.
When you partner with me as your chronic illness therapist, I’ll help you identify the stress triggers leading to further medical issues. Together, in collaboration with your medical providers, you can receive an optimal level of care to help you feel more like yourself.
“I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.”
— Joyce Meyer
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The inability to sleep negatively impacts every area of your life. Being exhausted makes you irritable, lethargic, down, and unable to focus. And when you have insomnia, the harder you try to sleep, the more it evades you.
Unfortunately, figuring out why you can’t sleep and retraining your brain and body to sleep better isn’t something easily mastered on your own.
When you work with me as your chronic illness therapist, you’ll learn how to let go of your sleep struggle and open yourself up to things that promote better sleep. I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi), which is considered the first-line insomnia treatment by the American College of Physicians. This treatment approach uses behavioral strategies to maximize sleep quality and fine-tune sleep hygiene.
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Living with chronic pain can be physically debilitating and mentally exhausting. The good news is that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been proven as a highly-effective therapy method for pain management.
CBT focuses on identifying and developing the skills needed to change your negative thoughts and behaviors about your chronic pain. You’ll gain a new perspective on your pain through CBT for chronic illness. You’ll also learn new coping skills and the steps you need to take to regain control of your quality of life.
Through chronic illness therapy, you’ll learn how to pace your activities successfully, so you can start doing the things you love to do again. We’ll examine and shift how you relate to your beliefs about pain. Learn how practicing relaxation and mindfulness exercises alter your body’s stress and pain response.
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease, including Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, are painful, uncomfortable, inconvenient, and embarrassing. Dealing with these chronic health issues can negatively impact your mental health.
As your chronic illness therapist in Houston, I can help you learn how to change the negative thought patterns causing you stress and, in turn, IBS or IBD flare-ups. With specific expertise in providing psychological treatment for these illnesses, I can help you understand how stress and emotions impact your gut motility and inflammation.
Together, we can help you develop breathing techniques to relax the abdominal area and lessen symptoms or flares. Additionally, I’ll help you develop methods for overcoming fear of your symptoms in public and uncomfortable situations. Find your freedom again.
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Dealing with autoimmune diseases can be extremely challenging. Symptoms and flare-ups are unpredictable. They can be mild or debilitating, leaving you feeling helpless in your pursuit to control this lifelong disease in your life.
Many autoimmune conditions cause:
headaches
pain
dizziness
fatigue
weight changes
brain fog
joint pain
skin problems
digestive concerns
*Health psychology
Chronic Illness Often Leads to Co-Occurring Mental Illness
Many ongoing physical symptoms and chronic conditions could cause you to feel depressed and anxious. With my help, you’ll learn new ways of managing the stress and emotional responses you’re experiencing. In time, you’ll be better equipped to deal with your chronic illness and even reduce some of your symptoms related to stress.
Some of the most common chronic illnesses I help patients deal with include:
Stress and negative emotions can influence your body’s response to your autoimmune disease by raising cortisol levels and worsening inflammation. Typically, this will make you feel even worse.
As your chronic illness therapist, I’ll help you:
learn to manage your symptoms better
change daily habits to maximize wellness
reduce stress through relaxation and mindful awareness practice
let go of what you can’t control
give yourself permission and grace to take time for you
figure out how to live vibrantly, even with your condition
Reduce the psychological impact of living with chronic illness.
To effectively treat both your mental and physical symptoms of chronic illness, I’ll make sure to partner with your medical providers. Together, we’ll work to provide the best possible treatment to get you back on track and living your best life. I’ll also help you learn how to deal with chronic illness by:
learning relaxation strategies
Incorporating mindfulness to detach from your struggles
developing stress management skills
establishing healthy living habits
sleeping better
seeing things in a more balanced way
engaging in your life meaningfully