RESOURCES
Helplines, Crisis Lines, & Online Resources
- Suicide and Crisis Hotline 988
- Crisis Text Line Text HOME to 741741
- Adult Protective Services, Illinois Department of Aging 1-800-252-8966
- Child Protective Services, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services 1-800-252-2873
- National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233
- National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673
- Trans Lifeline 1-877-565-8860
- National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD)
- https://anad.org/edaw/
Book Recommendations
Attention/Focus
- Hari, J. (2022). Stolen focus: Why you can’t pay attention and how to think deeply again. Crown.
Eating Disorders
Grief
- Devine, M. (2017). It’s OK that you’re not OK: Meeting grief and loss in a culture that doesn’t understand. Sounds True.
Neuroplasticity
- Barrett, L.G. (2017). How emotions are made: The secret life of the brain. Mariner Books.
- Doidge, Norman. (2007). The brain that changes itself: Stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science. Penguin Books.
- Doidge, Norman. (2016). The brain’s way of healing: Remarkable discoveries and recoveries from the frontiers of neuroplasticity. Penguin Books
Parenting
- Forehand, R. & Long, N. (2010). Parenting the Strong-Willed Child: The Clinically Proven Five-Week Program for Parents of Two- to Six-Year-Olds. (3rd ed.) McGraw Hill.
- Siegel, D. J. & Hartzell, M. (2004). Parenting from the inside out. How a deeper self-understanding can help you raise children who thrive. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.
Personality Traits
- Cain, S. (2013). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. Broadway Books.
Pregnancy
- Paul, A.M. (2010). Origins: How the nine months before birth shape the rest of our lives. Free Press.
Psychology
- Brizendine, L. (2016). The female brain. Harmony Books.
- Heffernan, M. (2012). Willful blindness: Why we ignore the obvious at our peril. Bloomsbury.
- Mlodinow. L. (2013). Subliminal: How your unconscious mind rules your behavior. Vintage Books.
- Paul. A. M. (2021). The extended mind: The power of thinking outside the brain. Mariner Books.
Psychotherapy
- Epstein, M. (1998). Going to pieces without falling apart. A Buddhist perspective on Wholeness. Broadway Books
- Epstien, M. (1995). Thoughts without a thinker. Basic Books.
- Yalom, I.D. (2002). The gift of therapy: An open letter to a new generation of therapists and their patients. Harper Perennial.
Sleep
- Walker, M. (2017). Why we sleep: Unlocking the power of sleep and dreams. Scribner.
Truama
- van der Kolk, B. (2014).
The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.
Podcasts
Reviews
Strategies to Regulate our Emotions & Arousal
We all have times when our moods are dysregulated. Depending on our specific natures or the circumstances we may become hyperaroused and feel anxious, agitated, or irritable or we may become hypoaroused and feel depressed, shut down, or low energy.
From my own personal experiences, my ongoing training, and perhaps most importantly, my work with patients, I’ve developed a list of strategies for regulating emotions and arousal. Below you will see this list separated into three sections, providing options for self-regulation:
- Across mood states – including anxiety, agitation, and depressive states
- Additional options for anxiety and hyperarousal
- Additional options for depression and hypoarousal
I welcome you to take a look at these lists and play around with them. See what works for you. Remember that what works for one person may not work for another, and may not work the same every time.
A few tips:
- Look at the lists and pick a few things to try. You don’t need to try everything all at once.
- Have playful attitude. The goal is to play with options, not to work at them.
- Gather data to see what works for you at this time, at this place.
- Be kind to yourself. Praise your efforts, not your accomplishments.
- Use strategies as part of your regular life. The more you use these strategies when you don’t need them, the more they will be available when you do.
Ways to Self-Regulate Emotions and Arousal – Across Mood States
Things to try when you are feeling emotionally dysregulated – these strategies work across emotional states and can be helpful when anxious, agitated, irritable, depressed, or shut down.
Ways to Quiet Anxieties and Hyperarousal
If you are highly anxious or agitated the key is find a release for this arousal. Movement or exercise can be especially helpful.
Ways to Lift a Depressive Mood and Low Energy
When depressed, the key is to try to get your day started and maintain routines as best as possible.
Ways to Quiet Anxieties and Hyperarousal
If you are highly anxious or agitated the key is find a release for this arousal. Movement or exercise can be especially helpful.