How many times have you changed your mind today? This past hour? The last minute? We are constantly changing our minds.
          I just woke up. Do I want to get up now or try to get back to sleep for a while?
          I’m in my closet. I think I’ll wear the red shirt. No, wait. Maybe the green one. I’m going to work in my car. Do I want to listen to music or a news station?
          Constantly changing our minds. For daily decisions, not a big deal. For life-changing decisions, very much a big deal. Beginning and continuing therapy until your goals are met is a very big deal, and your change involves creating new neuropathways and developing a new normal.
          In The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life, I introduce you to a new path of healing, mentalligent psychotherapy (MPT). This is the practice behind Dr. Kristen Lee’s new psychology of thinking, Mentalligence™. I liken mentalligence to a computer system, where the hardware are the physical attributes of your brain, that is, what you’ve got. The software is the accumulation of all your life experiences, that is, how you use what you’ve got.
          Back in the day, developmental neurobiologists concluded that our brains stop growing after about 25 years. After that, you have all the neurons and connections that you are going to have for the rest of your life. However, in the last 20 years of research, we’ve identified the brain’s neuroplasticity, that is, our ability to change our brains and grow for our lifetime. Our brains are neuroplastic in that regard.
          While we are now more inclined to seek psychotherapy for various reasons than ever before, people tend to do so because they want to change themselves in some way. They’ve tried various avenues for change but to no avail. Your therapist is your guide on your healing journey. MPT is a healing strategy that utilizes mindfulness, positive psychology, and cognitive behavioral treatments intertwined to effect lasting change in your brain’s neurochemistry. By staying in the present, finding the positive outcome in your stressors, and maintaining rationality, MPT offers upward spiraling in your life’s healing journey. As you move from conscious awareness to unconscious awareness in your stages of therapy, your brain lets go of unhealthy neural pathways and creates new, healthy neuropathways (neuroplasticity) to sustain the Good Life over time. With mentalligent psychotherapy you will change your mind day by day with a positive outcome.
 
Blessings,
Dr. Jon

​Deciding to begin therapy is a big deal. Typically, it means that there’s a lot of stress in your life. Stress is taking its toll on you, physically and mentally. You might feel like you are going to burst.
          Oftentimes your loved one asks if you are all right, and you blow her off. You might give her a few tidbits around the edges, but not the main thing that’s bothering you. You feel antsy and can’t get comfortable. Joy and good feelings are fleeting. There’s a part of you that wonders if things will ever feel better, maybe that you are defective.
          Most people, guys in particular, have a hard time allowing others in and being vulnerable. It’s fine for people to have secret parts that nobody knows about, but not if the secret disrupts your life. Beginning therapy can be a process whereby you start letting people in and allowing yourself to be vulnerable. That’s why beginning therapy is such a big deal.
             Typically, there are bothersome things on your mind which won’t go away. You try reaching out to friends and family to help sort out your feelings. Sometimes that’s all you need, and you feel better getting that load off your chest. You’re getting back to your old self. You have a few good night’s sleep. You feel hungry again, for the first time in a while. You’re hanging out with friends and family and enjoying having fun again.
            However, if your moods come and go, you seem to have lost your rhythm, and the funk returns, then you might consider what I call The 6-Week Rule. That is, try shaking things up, sharing with friends and family, getting a check-up with your family physician, and see how your days go. If your funk continues for more than 6 weeks, then think about beginning therapy.
         Because this is (you are) a big deal, do your research to find your therapist. Research indicates that 75% of effective healing therapy comes from the doctor-patient relationship, while only 25% comes from your therapist’s bag of tricks. Get recommendations from your physician, and from friends and coworkers. Even go to the length of interviewing prospective therapists for one session each before committing to the process.
          If you are in an emergency situation or feel suicidal, call the suicide hotline at #811, tell loved ones, and find a therapist quickly. Sudden, unexpected events like an unexpected loss or a traumatic attack or incident require mental health triage. Under these circumstances, the 6-week rule does not apply
          I had a patient back in the day who had been in therapy back in Florida before his company moved him to Virginia. His appointment with me was on a Thursday and he told me I was his fourth therapist appointment that week. He had been in therapy for a year back in Florida and he wanted things “to click” again, since he had moved. After his appointment with me I didn’t see him for two months. He then came back in and started the session with, “Oops, I chose the wrong one.” I saw him weekly for 6 months with symptom relief and a smooth transition to his changing circumstances.
          In my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life, I make use of extensive counselor-client dialogue to give readers a sneak peek into just how effective therapy is done. I offer the four stages of therapy and share a new treatment strategy, Mentalligent Psychotherapy. Check out my new book on my website, www.authorjonrobinson.com, and buy your copy on www.amazonbooks.com.
Blessings,
Dr. Jon