Mindfulness and Meditation Resources

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I highly recommend completing an introductory course in mindfuless and/or meditation practices, whether or not you are experiencing psychological distress. It is a tool to enable moment to moment, non-judgemental awareness of the contents of your mind, and thus provides you with the immediate opportunity to make an informed decision about how best to respond to it.

 

I use the Waking Up App, developed by Sam Harris, but there are a number of excellent courses and resources listed below that you can try out if Mr Harris isn't just right.

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Emotional Intelligence

Marc Brackett has an excellent approach to understanding our feelings and how we express them in this interview: 

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Emily and Amelia Nagoski outline the physical nature of emotions and stress, and introduce an essential guide to working stress out of our bodies, often long after the stressor has ceased.

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Exercise and Mental Health

With unequivocal evidence of the physical and mental health benefits of regular, moderate cardiovascular exercise (equivalent to the use of standard antidepressant medication for mild to moderate depression) here are a few resources to guide you. Note that the Canadian Government recently ---- the prescription of exposure to nature by medical doctors! 

 

Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy

This is an extremely dynamic and promising area of healthcare experiencing a global resurgence in interest from practitioners and the general public. While the use of traditional psychedelic medicines are still widely illegal, there is a shift in public perception and with that, an anticipated  loosening of laws to allow for the therapeutic use of psilocybin (the main component in magic mushrooms), LSD, and MDMA within the next few years. While we must still work within the law, I believe there is valuable information for those interested in this field and it's potential to facilitate significant psychological growth and healing.

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Trauma and Healing

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The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk

Seminal work of Bessel van der Kolk on the nature and extent of trauma in our society and it's impact on human functioning. Most valuable input in the latter half as he outlines interventions which demand an experiential shift to one of safety, mostly using the body itself and healing our common disconnect from it.

Podcast interviews he has subsequently conducted add his research findings on the use of psychedelics in healing trauma

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Relationships 

The Gottman Institute

Esther Perel

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Brene Brown 

Brene is a Social Worker and researcher who has transformed the landscape of self help in personal and professional spheres like no other media figure. You can find her first TED talk that began the phenomenon below (and her subsequent discussions on how vulnerable that talk made her feel):

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You can find her on Netflix, a new HBO series, and her invaluable podcasts, Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead.

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