Choosing to See the Good: How Shifting Perspective Boosts Mental Health
In our busy lives, we often overlook the beauty and kindness around us, yet choosing to focus on these moments can profoundly uplift our mental well-being. Cognitive psychology, particularly through Aaron T. Beck’s cognitive model, highlights that our thoughts shape our emotions, with negative thinking patterns fueling stress and depression. Humans are naturally prone to “negativity bias”—an evolutionary trait that once helped us recognize threats but can now lead to chronic anxiety in a modern world filled with daily stressors. By consciously “looking for the lovely”—noticing small positives like a cool breeze or a friend’s smile—we can train our minds to embrace a more positive outlook, nurturing both mood and mental health. Read in Full HERE.
New York Times’ As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do the Harms
By Megan Twohey, Danielle Ivory and Carson Kessler
(New York Times) –The drug, legal in much of the country, is widely seen as nonaddictive and safe. For some users, these assumptions are dangerously wrong.
In midcoast Maine, a pediatrician sees teenagers so dependent on cannabis that they consume it practically all day, every day — “a remarkably scary amount,” she said.
From Washington State to West Virginia, psychiatrists treat rising numbers of people whose use of the drug has brought on delusions, paranoia and other symptoms of psychosis.
And in the emergency departments of small community hospitals and large academic medical centers alike, physicians encounter patients with severe vomiting induced by the drug — a potentially devastating condition that once was rare but now, they say, is common. Read the Full Article HERE.
CiR Out and About
CiR/UCLA November 2, 2024 Quarterly Educational Series Invitation
Connections in Recovery (CiR), in collaboration with UCLA, is hosting its first-time-ever public, complimentary educational series on November 2, 2024, specifically designed for coaches and clinicians.
This event will feature distinguished guest speakers, including a Licensed Psychiatrist, Psychologist, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), who will cover a range of critical topics such as psychosis and cannabis, trauma in the age of social media (including platforms like TikTok), and advanced approaches in Radical Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Clinicians and coaches/companions will have the opportunity to process cases.
We are at 55 RSVPs!
You must register by Friday, November 1, 2024. Please email ea@connectionsinrecovery.com with your full name and professional credentials. See the flyer for more details.
*Please note you will receive a zoom link the day before the event*
Tip of the Month
Food for thought: The best connections happen without Wi-Fi because face-to-face interactions allow us to build meaningful bonds without the distractions of the digital world. In these moments of unplugged presence, we experience genuine exchanges—whether through deep conversations, shared laughter, or simply being together—that foster joy, trust, and understanding.
Unlike virtual connections, real-life interactions create an emotional depth and sense of closeness that screens can’t replicate. By taking time to disconnect, we can deepen our relationships and feel more connected to those around us.
