10 Things Your Therapist Is Really Thinking During Session | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansas

10 Things Your Therapist Is Really Thinking During Session

January 24, 2021
Part of what made my first therapy experience less successful than it could have been was my concern about what my therapist was thinking. Now that I'm a therapist, I have a pretty good idea of what's going through the mind of a therapist. So, if fear of judgment or rejection is making you nervous about going to therapy or being honest with your therapist, here are 10 things I'm thinking during session as a therapist. In this week’s article, discover: - Whether your therapist is judging you or thinks your decisions are dumb - 10 things your therapist IS thinking about during session - A bunch of things your therapist NEVER thinks - Resources to get started with therapy - Free worksheets to maximize your therapy sessions Dive in here!
5 Reasons Therapy Didn’t Work For Me – A Psychologist’s Perspective | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansas

5 Reasons Therapy Didn’t Work For Me – A Psychologist’s Perspective

January 17, 2021
In my early twenties, before I ever became a therapist, I went to therapy for the first time. And lemme tell you, it was a failure. My "failed" experience with therapy and becoming a psychologist have taught me a lot about what makes therapy work and what makes it not work. In this week’s article, discover: - 5 reasons therapy didn't work for me (at least at that point in my life) - Mistakes I made as a client in therapy - What you can do differently to make therapy work for you - Resources to maximize your therapy sessions Dive in here!
10 Ways to Calm, Soothe, and Center Your Mind (without meditating!) | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansas

10 Ways to Calm, Soothe, and Center Your Mind (without meditating!)

January 10, 2021
When your mind is a restless mess of anxiety or stress, you’ll feel overwhelmed and end up spending much of your time spinning your wheels (remember all those strategies you learned about how to stop self-sabotaging?). To actually move forward in your life, it helps to have a calmer, more peaceful mind. In this week’s article, discover: - 10 proven strategies to calm, soothe, and center your mind (without meditating!) - Examples of how to use each strategy - Resources for putting the strategies into practice Dive in here!
How to Practice Positive Self-Talk to Boost Self-Esteem and Build Confidence | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansas

17 Strategies for Practicing Positive Self-Talk to Boost Self-Esteem and Build Confidence

January 3, 2021
Last week, we discussed why it's so hard to relax and discovered that difficulty relaxing can be related to problems with self-esteem and confidence. As soon as you slow down, you're bombarded with self-critical thoughts. One of the greatest weapons against those thoughts is positive self-talk, so today let's develop some strategies to practice positive self-talk. In this week’s article, discover: - Why positive self-talk is so hard - 16 evidence-based strategies to practice positive self-talk - Examples & resources for practice - What to keep in mind as you start practicing positive self-talk Dive in here!
I Can't Relax: Here's Why It's So Hard to Relax & Some Tips to Relax When You're Feeling Stressed | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansas

I Can’t Relax: Here’s Why It’s So Hard to Relax & Some Tips to Relax When You’re Feeling Stressed

December 27, 2020
You know when you're anxious or stressed that you're "supposed" to relax. But when you slow down and try, your mind keeps running, you feel tense, and you spend the whole time not relaxing. It seems like such a waste. Today, we'll dive into why it's so hard to relax, and I'll give you some tips for relaxing when it's hard. In this week’s article, discover: - Why it's so hard to relax - Why you should practice relaxing, even when it's hard - How to relax when you can't relax - Free resources loaded with strategies to relax when you're stressed - What to keep in mind as you get started relaxing Dive in here!
When You Always Fear the Worst, Here's What to Do | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansas

When You Always Fear the Worst, Here’s What to Do

December 20, 2020
Last week, I gave you strategies for organizing your stressful thoughts. Certain thoughts can use some extra TLC, though, because they cause enormous stress, like fearing the worst. Ssome of us have been perfecting worst-case scenario thinking long before the world turned upside down in 2020. Today, let's develop some strategies for shifting those worst-case scenario thoughts. In this week’s article, discover: - What's helpful about fearing the worst - Step-by-step how to shift those thoughts - Free resources for changing the way you think - What to keep in mind as you put the steps into practice Dive in here!
How to organize stressful thoughts in 7 steps | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansas

How to Organize Stressful Thoughts in 7 Steps

December 13, 2020
You know how it feels stressful to walk into your kitchen and see dishes piled up? It's similarly stressful to be living inside a head that's cluttered with anxious or stressful thoughts. Our thoughts can become just as disorganized as our physical space, and just like tidying up our house can help us feel relived, learning how to organize our thoughts can provide a similar respite. Here's a quick 7-step process to tidy up your mind. In this week’s article, discover: - An easy 7-step process to declutter your mind - Strategies for uncovering what your stressful thoughts are - Resources for sorting through and addressing your stressful thoughts Dive in here!
How to Manage Stress in Two Steps | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansass | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansas

How to Manage Stress in 2 Steps

December 6, 2020
No matter what type of mental health symptoms you have, more stress = more symptoms. This is true for anxiety (more stress = more anxiety), depression (more stress = more depression), and just about every other mental health condition. So, a big component of managing your mental health in general is to manage stress. "Stress management" can seem like a vague concept, so this week I'm breaking it down into a two-step process to simplify the process. In this week’s article, discover: - How to know if you're stressed - The two-step process to manage stress - How to put each step into practice - A TON of free resources for putting the two-step process into action Dive in here!
6 Things to Do During A Social Media Detox | Hayden Finch, PhD | Psychologist in Des Moines, Iowa, and Little Rock, Arkansas

6 Things to Do During A Social Media Detox

November 15, 2020
If you've been following along with my articles, you've been working really hard to de-stress your life. In the past few months, you've - Practiced using mindfulness to reduce anxiety - Purchased a weighted blanket - Started silencing your inner critic - Developed a night-time self-care routine - Created a gratitude journal habit, and -Picked up some new stress-relief activities Now, you're ready for another challenge. Time to detox from social media. In this week’s article, discover - Why you need a social media detox - Why it's so hard to do - What to do during your social media detox