Therapist Blog Challenge #20: Athletes and Mental Health

Therapist Blog Challenge #20 deals with the sometimes misunderstood topic of the mental challenges that athletes may experience.

[Headline] Come up with a headline to give your readers an idea of what is to come. Here are a few examples:

Athletes' Unique Struggles With Mental Illness

Why Athletes Are Not Immune to Mental Health Challenges

Depression and Anxiety in Athletic Competitors

[Strong Intro] Write an introductory paragraph to explain more the topic and lay the scene for your main points. You may write your own or use the following:

Athletes are the envy of many in our society. Whether they're professionals, college players, or even high schoolers who excel in sports, it's not uncommon to desire their physical strength, attractive appearance, and mental grit. But what some may not understand is that athletes are just as vulnerable to mental health problems as the rest of the population. In fact, they often face unique struggles concerning their psychological well-being. According to some estimates, as many as 1 in 5 athletes experiences some form of a mood disorder. Here are 4 common reasons why athletes may struggle with mental illness:

[Scanable Content] Break up your content to make it more digestible and easy to read. Under each point, flesh out your idea by elaborating on your thoughts.

Athletes Often Tie Their Self-Worth To Their Performance

Athletes may experience feelings of worthlessness or extreme disappointment if they lose a game or match or otherwise do not perform at the level they desire. As losing (and even failing) is an inherent part of sports, this can occur quite frequently and therefore take an emotional toll that may leave these individuals prone to situational depression.

Frequent Injuries

Depending on the specific sport of event, some athletes may get hurt quite regularly. Head injuries (particularly concussions) sometimes seen with football players can lead to depression. Also, injuries that sideline athletes can cause them to feel incomplete or incompetent, which may further trouble them emotionally; if sports is what an individual excels at, he/she may feel like there is nothing else without them.

Associate Mental Illness With Weakness

As athletics emphasizes strength, having an "off-day" or being otherwise psychologically low may come off as weakness. Coaches and players may exacerbate this idea, and athletes can feel even worse about themselves if they are experiencing extreme sadness, anxiety, or other uncomfortable emotions resulting from a mental illness. There is already enough societal stigma concerning this topic, and this may even be more so in the world of athletics.

High Stress and Pressure

Everyone experiences the stress of everyday life, but that felt during an athletic event is even more intense. As an athlete's paycheck (and pride) depends on their performance, the stress and anxiety can sometimes prove too much and create a heavy psychological burden.

[Strong ending paragraph] 

Wrap up your post by summarizing your main points to conclude and then possibly offering a further idea or two for readers to investigate on their own. Here's an example:

The nature of sports and competitiveness presents unique challenges for athletes. Thankfully, we can raise awareness of this issue in the hopes or reaching more individuals who may need professional help. Visit the International Society for Sports Psychiatry (ISSP) for more information.

Additional reminders about the 2015 blog challenge

• Write and post your blog article in the next 2 weeks. If you miss the deadline or you read this article months later, that’s OK too. Post a link for this blog challenge in the comment section of this blog post.
• Read, comment, and share other therapist’s articles.
• Tweet your post using hashtag #therapistblog and tag @julie_hanks so I can retweet it.
• Pin it on the challenge Pinterest Board. I’ve invited everyone who posted a comment on the initial blog challenge post as collaborators so you can pin onto the group board.
• Spread the word and invite mental health colleagues to join the challenge. Articles can be added anytime throughout the year.
• Write no more than 600 words, make it easy to read, use a conversational tone, and gear your articles toward your ideal client (not other professionals).
• The goal of a professional blog is to provide value to your website visitors, help them get to know your professional perspective, increase traffic to your private practice website, and build your practice.

Join my Private Practice Toolbox Facebook group and connect with 3200 therapists around the globe in 2 simple steps: 1) Click request to join the group and 2) Fill out this brief questionnaire before you’ll be added to the group.Get practice tips and blog updates in your inbox.

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Therapist Blog Challenge #14: Feedback in Romantic Relationships

Therapist blog challenge #14 topic focuses on when to ask for and to consider feedback about a significant other.

[Headline] Come up with a catchy title for your blog post.  Here are a few examples:

Dating & the Peanut Gallery: What Other People Say About Your Love Life

Tough Critics: What they Really Think About Your Significant Other

To Ask or Not To Ask: Should You Talk to Your Friends About Your Romantic Partner?

[Strong Intro] Lay out the topic with a little more detail.  Below is an example.

Should you ask your friends if they like your romantic partner? Should you listen to what they say? What are the pros and cons of getting feedback about your relationships?

Dating relationships can bring complex dynamics:  Both parties have family and friends involved in their life who care about their well-being.  But things can get tricky when that extends into romantic relationships.   Here are things to consider when talking to other people  about a romantic partner.

 [Scanable Content]

Break your content into smaller, readable sections with a clear sub-heading.  For this example, we'll lay out Do's and Don'ts when it comes to asking for and giving relationship feedback/ advice.

When should you ask for feedback?

Write about times when it might be appropriate for person in a relationship to ask for the opinions of other people.  Maybe they want an outside perspective of how the relationships looks to others.

When should you not ask for feedback?

Write a short paragraph about when a person shouldn't ask for advice.  This might include breaking the confidence of the romantic partner or discussing very personal, intimate details of the relationship.

When should you listen to feedback?

Now, write to a paragraph about when one should seriously consider loved one's feedback about a significant other. For example, if several loved ones share similar warning signs those should be taken into consideration. Or if "He/she is a great fit for you."

When should you not listen to feedback?

Write a paragraph about when a person should refrain from trusting loved one's feedback about their romantic partner. You could explore who's feedback you should not take into consideration, and what types of feedback you should dismiss. For example, it's never a good idea to listen to superficial concerns about someone's looks or chosen profession.

[Strong ending paragraph] The final paragraph wraps up your post and can include a summary of important points, additional resources, and a call to action, such as "Call today for a therapy consultation."

That's all folks. Get going.

Here are a few additional reminders about the blog challenge:

• Write and post your blog article in the next 2 weeks. If you miss the deadline or you read this article months later, that’s OK too.
• Post a link for this blog challenge in the comment section of this blog post.
• Read, comment, and share other therapist’s articles.
• Tweet your post using hashtag #therapistblog and tag @julie_hanks so I can retweet it.
• Pin it on the challenge Pinterest Board. I’ve invited everyone who posted a comment on the initial blog challenge post as collaborators so you can pin onto the group board.
• Spread the word and invite mental health colleagues to join the challenge. Articles can be added anytime throughout the year.
• Write no more than 600 words, make it easy to read, use a conversational tone, and gear your articles toward your ideal client (not other professionals).
• The goal of a professional blog is to provide value to your website visitors, help them get to know your professional perspective, increase traffic to your private practice website, and build your practice.

Here's a list of previous blog challenges. Jump in anytime!

Therapist Blog Challenge #13: Mental Health and Parenting

The therapist blog challenge is back! I'm making it easy to blog regularly as a practice building strategy.

Rather than start a new challenge, I've decided to pick up where we left off last year -- with challenge #13. If you are new to the challenge, you can start with challenge #1 or you can start with this current challenge. The goal of the challenge is to make it easier for you to blog regularly on your private practice website. Blogging can boost SEO, provide valuable information on your specialty areas, lets potential clients get to know you better, and establishes you as an expert. These factors can lead to more clients choosing your practice.

A good way to select a blog topic is to break down broad topics into smaller chunks. For example, mental health is an enormous subject, so focus and expand an aspect of it for one blog post. You can also turn this broad topic into a series of posts. For this example, we'll choose how mental health affects parenting.

[Headline] Here are three title suggestions that you may use or come up with a clear and catchy blog post title

4 Ways to Boost Your Mental Health and Improve Your Parenting 

The Mental Health and Parenting Connection

Mind Your Mental Health: Your Children Will Thank You

[Strong intro] You can start with the paragraph below or customize it.

Like all other aspects of health, mental health can affect your parenting. For example, parents who suffer from Bipolar Disorder are 10 times more likely to overreact, which can lead to inappropriate punishments. Parents who are dealing with depression are often less responsive to their child's emotional cues. Here are some ways to mitigate the effect of mental health problems with regards to parenting:

[Scanable content] Make your content easy to quickly scan and find the main points.

1) Physical self-care

Write a paragraph about the importance of self-care for mental health treatment and prevention. You may want to include meditation, nutrition, rest, exercise.  Emphasize the connection between physical health, mental health, and relationships. Self-care is critical prevention for parenting "meltdowns."

2) Remain calm

Write a paragraph about a skill parents can use to calm themselves when their child's behavior is difficult. You may want to share counting to 10, putting yourself in "time out", the importance of modeling emotional regulation skills for the child. When parents remain calm, children will become less emotionally reactive.

3) Treatment compliance

Write a paragraph about the importance of remaining in treatment and of following recommendations. This might include medication compliance, group therapy, family therapy, bibliotherapy, etc.

4) Playtime

Write a paragraph about the importance of play and recreation (re-creation) with their child, how play promotes positive attachment, and the mental health benefits of play for adults.

Add as many additional suggestions on how parents can take care of their mental health in ways that support successful parenting.

[Strong ending paragraph] Final paragraph can include a summary of important points, additional resources, and a call to action like "Make an appointment with Julie today!"

That's it! Read on for tips on sharing your blog article.

Additional reminders about the blog challenge:

• Write and post your blog article in the next 2 weeks. If you miss the deadline or you read this article months later, that’s OK too.
• Post a link for this blog challenge in the comment section of this blog post.
• Read, comment, and share other therapist’s articles.
• Tweet your post using hashtag #therapistblog and tag @julie_hanks so I can retweet it.
• Pin it on the challenge Pinterest Board. I’ve invited everyone who posted a comment on the initial blog challenge post as collaborators so you can pin onto the group board.
• Spread the word and invite mental health colleagues to join the challenge. Articles can be added anytime throughout the year.
• Write no more than 600 words, make it easy to read, use a conversational tone, and gear your articles toward your ideal client (not other professionals).
• The goal of a professional blog is to provide value to your website visitors, help them get to know your professional perspective, increase traffic to your private practice website, and build your practice.

7 Strategies To Revive Your Dead Facebook Page

Do you have a Facebook page for your private practice? If not, read these articles first:

How To Set Up A Facebook Page and Facebook Pages For Therapists: Some Risks And Benefits

If you already have a practice Facebook page but there's very little interaction going on here are a few tips to revive your page. If people aren't visiting your page and interacting on it, what's the point of having it, right?

7 Facebook strategies that boost interaction on Facebook:

1) Post on weekends and afternoon/evening

According the Entrepreneur.com, weekends and late afternoons are the times when page admins are least likely to add a new post and those posts that receive the highest interaction rates.

2) If you're going to take a day off, pick  Thursday

Thursdays have the highest number of posts with the lowest interaction rate.

3) Post photos

Photos evoke emotion and grab attention. They generate the highest interaction rate, above status updates, video, music & links. When you post a question or status update, post it with a photo.

4) Ask for a comments and "likes"

Call for actions on Facebook pages actually works. Don't be afraid to ask for likes, comments, and shares. People will respond.

5) Be long-winded

Did you know that page interaction goes up with longer status updates?  Don't feel like you have to limit your update to the 140 characters, like on Twitter.

6) Post more frequently

Since not all followers will see every post, posting more frequently will catch the eye of more followers. Half of those who are going to click on your link or update will have done so within the first hour of posting. The other half will interact during the next 9 hours. Keep an eye on your unsubscribe rates to find the "sweet spot" for your page's ideal number of posts.

7) Post interesting content

The best way to boost interaction on your page is to post good, interesting, helpful information.

Sources: http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/220166 http://www.hellobloggerz.com/social-media/facebook-posting-techniques

What strategies have you used to improve your Facebook Page interaction?

Therapist Media Cheat Sheet: Building Your Practice Through TV Interviews

If you got an email today from a local news station asking to interview you as an expert on camera about one of your specialty areas for a news story, how would you respond? Surprisingly, many therapists let the opportunity to speak on camera for a large audience pass them by because of their own anxieties and insecurities about being on camera. Landing interviews on local news and talk shows allows thousands of people "get to know you," hear about your areas of expertise, and become aware of your private practice.

In my experience, the most effective marketing and public relations opportunities for my private practice are the ones I don't have to pay for, where someone else is featuring me as an expert, where I can reach thousands and thousands of people in one shot with accurate information, and where I can let them know that I am in private practice. Several years ago I decided I wanted to not just accept invitations to interview on TV but to actively seek them out and gain media experience. Over the past few years I've become a regular contributor on Utahs #1 women's lifestyle show KSL TV's Studio 5, as well as being interviewed frequently for various news stories. Here are a few things I've learned in the process to help you land local TV interviews in your area in order to educate your community and to draw potential clients to your private practice.

1) Know what's 'newsworthy'

When pitching stories or interview topics to local TV stations it's crucial to know what they're looking for. The fact that you're going into private practice specializing in family therapy isn't newsworthy, but news and other TV shows might be interested in getting your thoughts on a new study showing how cultivating self-compassion helps individuals manage divorce. Last week I was invited to share my thoughts on KSL TV evening news on the topic of interest to families - "Can a playground be too safe?" This story was prompted by a recent story published in the New York Times.

MediaCollege.com defines a story as newsworthy if it has the following characteristics:

Timing - News is all about stories that are current and new. Significance - Something that affects large numbers of people. Proximity - An event happening close to home. Prominence - Involves someone famous or well-known. Human Interest - Appeals to emotion, novel, off-beat, interesting.

• Watch national news headlines. Pitch a local spin on those stories to local TV producers.
• Suggest seasonal topics. Pitch interviews around managing holiday stress, or Halloween safety tips for children in October.
• New research is "news." Keep an eye out for interesting research that's relevant to your practice and offer to interview.

2) Know how to write a press release

When pitching to media you need to speak their language, which means learning how to write a press release.

• A press release needs to be in a specific press release format. Here's an excellent example at EReleases.com.
• Read other releases. Here's a release I helped one of my therapists at Wasatch Family Therapy, LLC write last week based on her dissertation research, Mean Girls Get Married: Teens Don't Always Grow Out of Mean Girl Behavior and End Up Using Emotional Manipulation On Spouse.
• Don't send attachments. When you email it to local news and TV producers cut and paste it in the body of the email, and do not send as an attachment.

3) Know how to make their job easier

TV reporters, producers, and journalists are extremely busy and always on a deadline. They don't have time to calm your anxiety or to walk you through the interview process.

• Respond ASAP to interview requests. If you get contacted by your local media respond immediately or the opportunity will pass you by. Decide ahead that you'll say "yes."
• Send only relevant information. Highlight the most important information you'd like to talk about and a brief line or two about you and your practice or your basic message (remember my elevator speech posts?). Through a brief stint as a producer and host of a local lifestyle TV show I learned what makes a good and a difficult interviewee. One of the hardest parts of screening potential guests was skimming through too much information hunting for the relevant points.
• Limit your correspondence. Respect the reporter, journalist or producers time. Though getting a TV interview might be a big deal for us, as the therapist, it's just one of many details they are trying to juggle.
• Do your homework. Understand the demographic for a given newscast or TV show so you can pitch relevant and helpful topics.

In upcoming articles I'll give tips on how to look and sound good on camera, how to maximize your TV interviews to draw potential clients to your practice, and tips to turn a one time TV appearance into a regular gig.

Have you been on local TV? I'd love to hear about your experience. How did it go? What do you wish you'd known beforehand? If you have any questions for me feel free to comment below or ask me on Twitter @Julie_Hanks or contact me directly here.