Therapy Update

As part of my maternity care, I’ve been attending a therapist one day a week. This is due to my bipolar disorder, and being deemed someone with complex mental health issues.

For me this is a good thing, it means I have somewhere that I can talk once a week about anything, from my feelings about pregnancy to my moods. I’ve been dealing a lot with low moods during the pregnancy, which obviously isn’t ideal, but with the help of the therapist, they are stabilising a bit. I dealt a lot with low moods in a much more extreme sense when pregnant with the twins, so I do feel lucky that it has not gotten as bad this pregnancy.

One thing we’ve been focusing on that I enjoy is grounding, and finding space within the storm to stand firm and be able to hold your own again. I love that analogy, as it can feel like you are standing in a storm when your mood is low. With winds and rain trying its best to blow you over. So standing firm and saying that you will not allow it to blow you down and ruin any progress you have made is the main goal of my work in therapy.

So currently we are working on different grounding tools. My personal favourite is the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 method. For anyone who isn’t aware of it, you follow this guide;

5 things you can see

4 things you can hear

3 things you can touch

2 things you can smell

1 thing you can taste

We used this as part of an activity called dropping anchor. This features three main areas, A, C, E; which stand for Acknowledge, Come Back and Engage.

Acknowledge means acknowledging the feelings, the thoughts and whatever is racing through your mind. I do this by closing my eyes and allowing whatever thoughts pop up to just exist in my head for a while. Acknowledging these thoughts, feelings and memories can be hard, but accepting that they can come and go without causing harm.

Come Back is about coming back into your body after allowing those thoughts and feelings to come and go within your head. This can be done by stretching, pushing your heels into the ground or pressing your fingertips together. I like pushing my heels into the ground and pressing my fingertips together as it helps me ground myself.

Lastly, you have engage, and this is where we use the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 method. This grounds me so well and it has been the grounding tool I have been using from around age 20.

So why am I sharing all of this? Honestly as it may help someone else find a new way to deal with their unwanted images and thoughts. Also I prefer being open about tools I learn in therapy and talking openly about being in therapy can help normalise these kinds of things. For as long as I’ve been blogging I’ve been very open about my mental health and my struggles. So sharing the tools I’m learning seems like the logical next step in that journey.

How do you ground yourself? Let me know in the comments!