The BALA Bulletin

Unified Protocol: An Evidence Based Treatment for Emotional Disorders

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Unified Protocol: An Evidenced Based Treatment for Emotional Disorders

What are Emotional Disorders?Mood chart

Emotional disorders include anxiety and mood disorders (i.e. depression) that have one major feature in common: a lack of emotion regulation skills. Individuals who experience emotional disorders use certain strategies to deal with their symptoms that typically involve avoiding uncomfortable emotions as much as possible. Yet, avoidance maintains these uncomfortable symptoms longer, and often exacerbates them.

One evidence-based treatment for emotional disorders is Unified Protocol (UP). UP is a treatment that teaches you to better understand your emotional experiences, helps you to understand how the way you behave or think may unintentionally contribute to your symptoms, and offers you skills to help you to manage these symptoms when they arise. Continue reading →

A Bad Day…Or Something Else?

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A Bad Day…Or Something Else?rainy_afternoon

Have you ever had a bad day? You know, a nothing feels good, woke up on the wrong side of the bed, glass half empty kind of day? We’ve all be there, right? Most of the time, a bad day is just that: a day…or a few at most…and then we are back on our feet and feeling like ourselves again. But what if you aren’t? Could it be something more? Could it be depression? Let’s take a look at how to tell the difference between a bad day and major depression. Continue reading →

Coping with Unwanted Thoughts

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Coping with Unwanted ThoughtsThought bubbles

Has anyone ever given you the advice “just don’t think about it,” when you share worries, fears or concerns? For most worriers this advice can feel defeating and near impossible. While the advice may be well meaning, the truth is that “just not thinking about something” is not only ineffective, the act of trying to avoid thinking about something can actually make you think about it more! Fortunately, cognitive behavioral therapies offer several effective techniques that can help you manage these unwanted thoughts. Continue reading →

Real Threat or False Alarm: Understanding the Nature of Anxiety

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Real Threat or False Alarm: Understanding the Nature of Anxiety

Real threat or false alarm?

  • Have you ever felt anxious “for no reason?”
  • Do you worry something bad might happen?
  • Are you anxious about getting anxious?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have experienced an anxiety “false alarm.” Read on to find out more about these errors and to learn the first step in stopping them from sending you into a panic. Continue reading →