Underrated coping skill: bulletin boards

This is the third post in the Grey Thinking series, Five of the most underrated coping skills.

Out of sight, out of mind.

This idiom definitely proves true for me.  I get so wrapped up in everything going on in life that I forget about all these health / self-care / positive affirmations / you name it that I’m trying to convince myself of.

I wrote about this in a previous post, I’m going to need that in writing, but it’s definitely worth mentioning again.  I have a bulletin board above my desk with little things on it – quotes, pictures, etc. – that mean something to me.  For example, there’s a fortune cookie fortune that says, “Remember there are people who care deeply about you.”  There’s also a copy of my meal plan and clips from meaningful emails.  Granted… there are also pictures of my dog, a yearly calendar, and sometimes a to-do list… but my point is, I put stuff up there that I need to remember.  And it helps, a lot.

I know that in treatment and recovery, I need to hear the a lot of the same things over and over.  Seeing some of these concepts concretely and being reminded of them regularly has proven to be very helpful.

photo credit: kitchenknife

I’m going to need that in writing.

I am not  an auditory learner.  At all.  I’m definitely a visual learner — in college I took copious notes, but didn’t really grasp the class material until later going over and reading those notes.  There’s just something about reading/writing that I need to get it.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t serve me too well in therapy.  I can have a great session and later that night not even remember half of what we talked about.  And on the same level, when I’m in session I don’t remember half of what I planned to say.

In an effort to make my time in therapy more useful, I’ve started to write things down.  Not quite journal, but write when I’m upset or just a couple of points I want to make sure that I let my therapist know.  If I’m afraid that I won’t bring up the issue in therapy, sometimes I’ll email them to her before my appointment.

That’s just one way that writing things down helps me in treatment.  Another is with my meal plan.  I know my meal plan backwards and forwards at this point, but one day I decided to pin it to pin it to my bulletin board above my desk.  This probably sounds silly, but it has made such a difference.  I am reminded all day that my meal plan and recovery are important.  When I’m in the middle of work I think “oh, I’ll eat that later” or “I am too busy right now,” but just having it written out and sitting in front of me helps me remember that treatment is important even when I’m not in my therapist’s office.

A third way is with affirmations.  Well, affirmations may not be the word that I’m looking for… but clips of little things that mean something to me.  For instance, also on my bulletin board is a fortune from a fortune cookie that says “Remember there are people who care deeply about you.”  I also have this paper on which my therapist wrote, “You can let go of your ED and still be validated” and “Never forget, but forgive and make yourself a better person.”  And then, sometimes I’ll print out pieces of funny or significant emails (from anyone in my life) and pin those up.  Yes, I have a very large bulletin board!

I need a written reminder for several reasons:

1. I’m a visual person
2. I twist things and second-guess myself and think “she didn’t mean it that way” or “I am reading into that too much.”
3. Being continually reminded helps me convince myself that it is true

Different types of therapy are helpful for different people, and I think that there is some trial-and-error involved in figuring out what works for you.  Personally, I highly recommend investing in a bulletin board.

I'm going to need that in writing.

I am not  an auditory learner.  At all.  I’m definitely a visual learner — in college I took copious notes, but didn’t really grasp the class material until later going over and reading those notes.  There’s just something about reading/writing that I need to get it.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t serve me too well in therapy.  I can have a great session and later that night not even remember half of what we talked about.  And on the same level, when I’m in session I don’t remember half of what I planned to say.

In an effort to make my time in therapy more useful, I’ve started to write things down.  Not quite journal, but write when I’m upset or just a couple of points I want to make sure that I let my therapist know.  If I’m afraid that I won’t bring up the issue in therapy, sometimes I’ll email them to her before my appointment.

That’s just one way that writing things down helps me in treatment.  Another is with my meal plan.  I know my meal plan backwards and forwards at this point, but one day I decided to pin it to pin it to my bulletin board above my desk.  This probably sounds silly, but it has made such a difference.  I am reminded all day that my meal plan and recovery are important.  When I’m in the middle of work I think “oh, I’ll eat that later” or “I am too busy right now,” but just having it written out and sitting in front of me helps me remember that treatment is important even when I’m not in my therapist’s office.

A third way is with affirmations.  Well, affirmations may not be the word that I’m looking for… but clips of little things that mean something to me.  For instance, also on my bulletin board is a fortune from a fortune cookie that says “Remember there are people who care deeply about you.”  I also have this paper on which my therapist wrote, “You can let go of your ED and still be validated” and “Never forget, but forgive and make yourself a better person.”  And then, sometimes I’ll print out pieces of funny or significant emails (from anyone in my life) and pin those up.  Yes, I have a very large bulletin board!

I need a written reminder for several reasons:

1. I’m a visual person
2. I twist things and second-guess myself and think “she didn’t mean it that way” or “I am reading into that too much.”
3. Being continually reminded helps me convince myself that it is true

Different types of therapy are helpful for different people, and I think that there is some trial-and-error involved in figuring out what works for you.  Personally, I highly recommend investing in a bulletin board.