Francis Marion University Counseling and Testing Center

Happy Monday Pats!

We're at the half-way mark for the semester and we just wanted to remind you to not let your sparkle dim!

This has been an unprecedented time and semester, but you've made it this far!

We're cheering you all on to great success for the remainder of the semester. Remember our office is always here with a listening ear. You can book online now and we offer virtual appointments now as well.

Happy Labor Day Pats!

This week marks the start of a new transition, back to traditional and/or hybrid formats or classes.

Let's remember to honor the space between what we've experienced and what is yet to be experienced. It can be a bit scary or anxiety provoking navigating in the in-between, but allowing your self the space to transition can be so helpful and much needed.

Take a few deep breaths in, of all the positive things yet to come and blow out any negative thoughts related to the unknown. Little pivoting moments like breathing/stating our intention for the day, can help keep us on track when anxiety seems overwhelming.

Remember you're never alone when navigating the in-between; we're all here with you.✊🏼✊🏾✊🏿✊💪🙃

Stress can sometimes come out of nowhere and feel so overwhelmingly heavy.

A great deal of stress can sometimes come from things outside of our control or that haven't even happened yet.

Today as you read this, allow yourself to unclench your jaw, breathe in/out deeply, and release the negative energy you've been carrying.

Today let's begin to allow ourselves to not stress over what is outside our sphere of control.

Happy Monday Pats!

Let's remember to pivot when obstacles arise. Obstacles are apart of the journey of life. The goal doesn't have to necessarily change, just the path to get there may be tweaked a bit.

Wishing a marvelous Monday to you all!😊

Happy 1st Day of Classes Pats!

We hope that your day is full of lots of learning, reconnecting with old friends, and reminders that even though this Fall semester looks different, you can still beast it out!

Go PATS!

Happy to announce that we are now offering an online set up, to schedule counseling sessions (students and faculty/staff), disability consultants, and testing appointments.

Check out our website to book! Our direct booking link is https://fmucounselingandtesting.as.me/

We also are offering in-person as well as virtual (e.g., video or phone) counseling sessions.

Remember we're here to support the FMU community.

🥰🙃💪

Happy Monday Pats!

Let's play the things that I can control Bingo!

There are so many things that are outside of our control, but it can be fun to remember all the things that are in our control.🙃

Vulnerability can be a scary, but is a strength and not a weakness. It is okay to cry if you need to. Tears are just like the rain falling on the flowers- refreshing and needed.❤

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Non- Linear Perception 🧐

We as individuals sometimes perceive any progression of change as being a linear path; straight with few bumps or turns. I think it's important to note that any change or healing never quite fits the linear perspective. It often takes a very non-linear path, that has some spikes, turns, sudden shifts, and dips. However, it is in the non-linear pathway, that healing exists and continues in life.🧘‍♀️

Remember that any change or success won't be linear, it'll be non-linear and that's okay.🙃

The best is yet to come Pats🙃

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Learning what's in your control

We as humans are fond of the idea of control, having it and being able to exert it. However, there are a great deal of things outside of our control, especially with the current universal health concerns.

It can be helpful to draw a diagram like the one picture to remind yourself that the only things within your control are your actions and reactions, nothing more.🙃

Practice acknowledging what's inside your sphere of control and letting go of what's not within your control. ❤ It can be a freeing experience if you give it a try.

Look for the positive in each day Pats!🙃😊

Mental Health Tip of the Day

Mindfulness Calming Jar

Mindfulness can be a helpful tool when needing to re focus attention, calming self or others, as well as to cope with negative emotions. Using a tool like a calming jar, can serve as a focal point to focus attention and practice mindfulness in brief spurts. You shake the jar and focus on the liquid matter flow patterns until it settles. You can also add in some deep breaths as you watch your jar. It can be useful for people of all ages.

Directions on how to make a calming jar jar:

1.Add warm water to your jar or bottle until it reaches around a third of the way up.

2.Add the glitter glue and stir until it combined with the water.

3.Add around 3 drops of food colour and stir. ...

4.Pour in the glitter! ...

5.Top up your jar with the rest of the warm water, until it is almost full

Heres a link to a video of how to make a mindfullness jar: https://youtu.be/hLukqFYz48s

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

6 Most Important List

The transition from in class to online instruction has been difficult for lots of students and professors alike. We think it's important to talk a bit about a quick organization tool that can help you keep you on task with your assignments overall.

Making a 6 Most Important list daily can help you pin point what items you need to complete as well as prioritize them.💯 Organization can be key in helping you decrease some anxiety related to the transition.😉😎

Try writing your list each night for the next day, so when you begin your day you already know what's on your agenda to complete. 📝🙃When you complete a task mark it off your list. ✔It is okay if you need to move items to the next day or so to complete, because sometimes we have to be flexible.👌 This could be a small step to help organize the many tasks set before you.

Happy organizing Pats!😊

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Meditation

Meditation can be a great skill to learn and practice, due to it's ability to physically, emotionally, and mentally center you overall.🌻 It does not have to be a complex process. It can begin as simply taking brief time out of your day to center yourself in a positive way (e.g., taking a few deep breaths, acknowledging your sensory experiences, while sitting in a chair prior to beginning your assignments). 👨‍🏫👩‍🏫💪

The beauty of this practice is that it can look different for each individual person. Some people sit criss cross applesauce while others prefer to sit up in a chair with a back. 🧘‍♀️

Try it out and see how focusing on centering yourself can help improve your focus, performance level, and overall health.🙃

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Check-In with yourself and others

Doing a self check-in as well as checking in with friends and family can be a helpful tool. A check in can be to acknowledge how you're feeling/behaving, processing that, as well as releasing any negative thoughts/feelings and leaving room for hope.

The same path can be used when checking in on friends and family members. It can make someone's day to be asked how they are and to talk for a bit. The check in could be via text message, social media, video chat, or a phone call.

Why not end the week with positive intention not only for yourself, but for those you care about too?

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Asking for Help

You don't have to be at your lowest to ask for help. It's important to remember that asking for help aides you in overcoming a situation or issue you may have by gaining assistance. This can be a helpful tool, when you're experiencing feelings or situations you aren't sure of how to handle.

In this time, asking for help or support from your professors, family, friends, or a counselor can help with navigating the recent transitions that have occurred.

It's okay to ask for help. We all need assistance sometimes. 🙃😊

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Boundaries

It can be a helpful tool to explore, identify, and express your boundaries. Boundaries are your firm limits related to various elements in your life, such as emotions, friendship, finances, etc...

When you know your boundaries it can help you navigate situations in a positive way. Also, communicating those boundaries to others can help facilitate positive communication overall.

Mental Health Tip of the day:

Understanding and Stopping Mental Health Stigma

There is often a stigma aka a mark of shame attached to having mental health issues. This is often perpetuated by a fear driven by a severe lack of information and understanding of mental health disorders. A huge factor to dispelling mental health stigma is to gain knowledge about mental health issues from good sources, such as nimh.nih.gov and www.drugabuse.gov. When you increase your knowledge of something it helps decrease ignorance. Secondly, it is important to note that any individual that has a mental health issue is human and deserves compassion and empathy, not misguided ignorance and anger. Third, not everyone who seeks counseling has a severe mental health issue. They may have a life issue that they need a third party objective person to help them dissect; or may just need a "mental health" check in to stay on a positive track. Lastly, it is imperative to note that "normal' is an illusion and we all have idiosyncrasies that make us unique. For some people that includes having a mental health disorder or a life situation/problem that they seek treatment to cope with.

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Self Care-Identifying your needs

There is great power in identifying your needs and facilitating those needs in a positive way. Self care is not being selfish it is being self-aware. It extends to internal needs (e.g., hope) as well as external needs(e.g., hair cut).

We encourage you to write a list of your internal self care needs on one side and on the other side write ways that you can facilitate those identified needs. Example: Peace- meditate 2x daily.

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Affirmations

Affirmations are positive statements we write/say to ourselves to remind us of all our positive qualities. A good step for creating afffirmations is to think of statements that connect with you and are positive. We suggest typing or writing them out and having them in a prominent place in your home. It can be helpful to speak your statements out loud once or several times daily. The daily routine of speaking positive phrases out loud help aid you in positive self talk, which in turn helps you start viewing yourself through more positive lenses.

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Grounding

Anxiety attacks are often scary experiences due to the feeling of losing control over your body (e.g., breathing, chest pain, sweaty palms, etc...). A good technique to learn when experiencing a mild, moderate, or severe panic attack is grounding. Grounding technique is focusing on breathing slowly and intentionally, while counting down. This process helps to focus your attention on something you can control until eventually you feel the panic attack pass. There are varying ways to "ground" yourself and it is a great tool to utilize. When you engage in counseling, learning and practicing this technique can be an empowering shift for a great deal of people.

In uncertain times, learning how to "ground" yourself has become more of an imperative than ever before. I hope we all can "ground" and continue to hold the flame of hope as we continue into the unknown together. 🧘‍♀️🙃

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Learning Coping Skills

Coping skills are behaviors we engage in to help us cope with difficult emotions or events. We often learn some coping skills subconsciously and they become patterns of behaviors we engage in overtime. While there are other coping skills we learn and practice overtime, such as ones we process during the therapeutic process. It is important to make sure the coping skills we are using are positive ones, that lead to further self healing or reflection rather than self loathing or harm.

Learning positive coping skills can help you wage through those difficult moments safely. If you aren't sure how to go about that process, you are welcome to contact our office and we can discover those items together.

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

Emotions

Emotions aren't good or bad, they're more like signals. They help us identify what is happening internally as well as express our internal experience to others. Let's look at emotions as items that help us learn more about ourselves overtime.

Ask yourself when you experience an emotion: What is it I'm experiencing? What can I learn from this emotion? How is this emotion expressing itself physically or mentally?

Mental Tip of the Day:

Identifying Physical Traits of Anxiety.

Our bodies often has cues to our emotions. These cues can look differently for each individual, but it's important to learn to identify them. When you can identify physical cues to an emotion (e.g., anxiety), it can aid you in learning what type of positive coping skills to use to combat further experience of negative emotion(s).

Check out the photo and pick out the parts of your body affected by anxiety. Identifying is the the first step.👉📝🗄

Mental Health Tip of the day:

Mental health symptoms do not present the exact same way for each person or even present exactly the same each time for the same individual. It's important to note that everyones' individual emotions are valid and can feel/present differently.

If you feel that you are experiencing negative emotions more frequently please reach out to our office and/or a community mental health provider. It's okay to not be okay sometimes, but you don't have to go through it alone. In a time of uncertainty we must all come together. Let's travel through the unknown together.😊

Mental Health Tip of the Day:

You can't pour into others if you do not take care of yourself first! Please make sure you are taking care of YOU. Self care is so important and takes practice. Remember there is only one YOU in this world and YOU matter.

There are so many things that go into mental health and wellness. These are just a few areas to keep in mind when thinking about your own wellness. 🤔🧘‍♀️🧠

This is the perfect time to do a personal check in✔🧐on where you are in relation to overall wellness.🙃