March

The month of March is an exciting time of year, in my opinion.  Here in Utah we start to see the first signs of springtime. After a long winter of snow and cold weather, those subtle signs of spring are a welcome sight. March is also a great time of year because of March Madness, the college basketball playoff tournament. This is a time when people from all over the country get excited about their teams and hoping their team will win. Most March Madness tournaments produce some exciting games with buzzer beating finishes. The full range of human emotion can be seen during these fiercely competed contests.

Life is an amazing experience. It is open ended and unique for all of us. Each day brings new opportunities, challenges, and things to get excited about. One small thing we can all do to improve our happiness is to find joy and contentment in the small things of life such as a spring bud on a tree or an exciting basketball game. What are the small things in life that get you excited?

Many of us go through life with our heads down, feeling sad about missed opportunities from the past or worrying about the future. One key to finding contentment in life is to learn to enjoy the moment. There are subtle beauties in the moment that we often miss because of our focus on the past or the future.

One therapy model we love at Logan River Academy is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT focuses on mindfulness and learning to live in the present. ACT helps us learn to accept thoughts and feelings rather than push them away or distract ourselves. This model teaches us to make room for difficult emotions and to learn to observe them rather than get hooked or fused to them. As we lessen our resistance, thoughts tend to be less troublesome and move on more quickly.

One part of ACT I am personally working on is learning to connect in the present. I am trying to focus more on what is going on around me such as sounds, textures, and movements. I am trying to drive a little slower, eat in a more relaxed and slow paced fashion, and enjoy each conversation. Learning to connect and live in the Here-and-Now is crucial to contentment. Many of us go through life thinking life will be better after we make this much money, or have this relationship, or go on this vacation. When we live this way we miss out on the many joys right in front of us.

As we learn to appreciate each moment of each day, the hope is that contentment can settle upon us. ACT acknowledges that pain is inevitable and part of all of our lives. How we respond to pain is our choice. If we respond poorly, suffering is sure to come. If we make room for pain and handle it well, suffering may not have to be part of the equation. Let’s all try to enjoy the present and recognize the small, subtle nuances of life that can bring great levels of contentment!

If you are interested in learning more about ACT, please consider reading The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris. I am currently reading this book and enjoying it very much. 

 

Matt Erickson, LCSW

Why playing is good for kids….and adults!

Why playing is good for kids….and adults!

I came across this article from KSL.com (https://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=46191068&nid=157&title=why-adults-should-play-too) and realized how important play is for all of us, in a world where we all need time for our own self-care to help our own sanity:

The science behind play

The evolutionary importance of play can be demonstrated in the brains and behaviors of rats and primates, said Dr. Sergio Pellis, neuroscientist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada.

In his experiments, he denied rats the opportunity to engage in play by fighting and wrestling.

Those rats developed deficiencies in their brains' pre-frontal cortex. This is the area responsible for executive functions, such as making judgment calls and emotional regulation.

"If you're an adult male rat put in another cage of a rat you don't know, the resident rat will see you as an intruder and beat you up," Pellis said.

If you're a normal rat, you'll find any place to hide — a platform, perhaps — and stay there, he said.

"If you're a play-deficient rat, you'll get beaten up and shortly thereafter move again and attract even more attention," he said. "You're not figuring out the appropriate thing to do in this situation."

Similar research with monkeys led to the same results, said Pellis, co-author of "The Playful Brain: Venturing to the Limits of Neuroscience."

While this type of experiment cannot be replicated in juvenile humans for ethical reasons, social science studies have shown kids who engage in more play end up with higher social skills a few years down the line, Pellis said, predicting more research in the next decade on adult human brains at play.

Views From Our Changing Seasons

My last blog post told the story of our trip to the Grizzly Ridge Yurt in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah. Back when the ground was buried deeply in white, the trees were bare, and the scenery was often obstructed by falling snow or dense cloud cover. Now only one season away from that same beautiful scene, I want to share the photos and a few stories from our spring and summer excursions and the first few weeks of fall.

Almost every mountain range in the western US was full of snow through April and May, many well into June. While this certainly makes for nice photos, it also makes for muddy, wet shoes on a hike. 

Speaking of wet shoes, running rivers after a historic winter season will leave you soaked head to toe, often with 50ᵒ F water. Many of our trails had dried out by the time July rolled around, though we were able to still find a patch here and there at the highest elevations. Another benefit to the summer season is dry rock and warm belays.

I am slightly biased about winter being the best season, but after the warm months of summer provide never-ending light and jacket-free recreation I find it difficult to yield to the changing of the leaves. Fortunately fall brings gorgeous sunsets, long shadows and a color palette too exquisite to comprehend.

Digital Addiction Recovery Treatment

Staying online longer than intended?  

 Neglecting school or work responsibilities?   

Spending more time with online friends than with real world friends?   

Arguing with others about computer/phone/video game use?  

 Feeling guilty about the amount of time spent online?   

Unsuccessfully trying to cut back on online use?   

Lying about online activity?   

Feeling anxious or irritable when online time is cut short?   

Neglecting sleep, diet, and exercise to spend time online?  

 These are all common signs of a rapidly growing problems in modern society.  A problem that is especially prevalent among adolescents.  This problem of course is digital addiction.

We at Logan River Academy (LRA) know that digital media use is part of daily life for teenagers or young adults in the real world.  From laptops at school, to cell phones in your pocket, to video games with friends after school, the digital world is inescapable.  However, much like many other things in life, moderation is the key.

Through our DART program (Digital Addiction Recovery Treatment) we can help students struggling with this problem learn to live their lives with digital media, instead of letting digital media continue to run their lives.

The DART program is built largely around the Restore Recovery™ model of Dr. Kimberly Young.  Dr. Young is the founder of the Center for Internet Addiction & Recovery and is one of the pioneers for assessment and treatment of internet addiction disorders.  Dr. Young defines internet addiction as:

“any online-related, compulsive behavior which interferes with normal living and causes severe stress on family, friends, loved ones, and one’s work environment.”

Here at LRA, we use the term Digital Addiction to include any use of online-based technology that negatively interferes with and impacts a student’s life.  This can include:

•       video gaming

•       social media

•       entertainment or streaming services

•       texting and messaging

•       online shopping/auctions

•       pornography

Our approach at LRA utilizes a harm-reduction model that strives to provide digitally addicted adolescents with the support and resources they need to bring balance back to their digital lives.  The approach focuses on 4 critical areas of digital addiction treatment: assessment, evaluation, goal setting, and education and action.  We have found this approach to be very successful in helping adolescents gain a better handle on this ever-present issue in today’s society and return their lives to a healthy, more functional place. Through this comprehensive approach, we can address the root causes of digital addiction. We help our students develop strategies to control their lives day-to-day, and implement actions that will keep electronic compulsions and propensities from controlling their lives. 

http://loganriver.com

information@loganriver.com

(435) 755-8400

Is your teen manipulating you?

The other day my teenage daughter casually asked me out of the blue if I had any errands that I needed her to run for me.  Seeing how she doesn't have her own car and would need to use my car, and also given the fact that she rarely offers this wonderful service, I found it a little strange and out of the ordinary for her.  When I told her that I didn't have any errands for her to run, she hemmed and hawed a bit and then eventually dropped the subject.

A short time later she came back to me and asked if she could use my car to go do something with her friends.  It was at that point that I realized how she was earlier trying to manipulate me into using my car for her own interests.  While this isn't the biggest or most disappointing thing in the world for her to try and pull over on me, it did frustrate me a little and got me thinking about how frequently teens try to manipulate parents. Sometimes this manipulation is for fairly innocent things (like using a car), while at other times it can be for things of a more serious and possibly detrimental nature.

As a parent, always being able to recognize and be aware of manipulation can be challenging.  Even more challenging at times, is knowing what to do about it and how to handle it when it does occur.  The following is an article that I stumbled across awhile back with some helpful tips and pointers for dealing with manipulation from our children.  I hope you find it helpful!

Is your teen manipulating you? https://www.ksl.com/?sid=42196802