Considering how much stress and anxiety we’ve all gone through over the last two years, there’s never been a better time to look for ways to feel better. It’s easy to let your mental health and wellness fall by the wayside, especially during a busy time of your life. However, taking care of yourself is necessary if you want to stay happy and productive. Still, it can be difficult to find the right activities and routines to make a lasting difference in your life. If you want to lift your spirits, keep reading to learn about some innovative therapeutic techniques to boost your mood.
What types of therapy can help improve your mood?
There are a lot of different types of therapy that can help improve your mood and overall state of mind. The best choice for you depends entirely on your preferences and what treatments are most successful for the condition you have or the issues you seeking to work on. There are some mental health conditions that are best treated through individual therapy, but you may want to consider group therapy as a part of your treatment plan. Intensive outpatient group therapy can provide comprehensive and individualized solutions in a group setting. Group therapy can also help improve your communication and social skills.
One unique new kind of therapy is wilderness therapy. There is research that links time spent in nature with an overall reduction in stress and anxiety, which can help boost anyone’s mood. Some wilderness therapy programs center around activities like hiking, while others intensive programs are months-long and seek to help participants learn to connect with nature. One study found 83 percent of participants in a wildness therapy program maintained the positive changes they made over a year later.
What are some therapeutic activities you can do at home?
One great way to improve your mental health and the environment you live in is to make time for some deep cleaning. You can start by going through storage to sort through what to keep and discard, get rid of dust and dirt, and make your home look and feel like new. While there is a lot you can do yourself, you may want to enlist professional help for some parts of the process. For example, if you have stained or dirty carpeting, you can look for a service to help remove them, like this business that handles carpet cleaning in Brisbane.
Another affordable way to be happier at home is to put some music on and dance. Multiple studies have shown that dancing reduces anxiety and stress. It’s also been shown to improve self-esteem, body image, coping ability, and overall sense of well-being.
Puzzles are another activity that has significant benefits. The kind of rapid thinking required to solve puzzles has been linked to activating the brain’s novelty-loving reward system. That means completing a difficult puzzle or solving a tricky word problem can trigger the release of the chemicals that control mood and happiness.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to therapy, which is why there are so many therapeutic programs to choose from. Everyone’s brain and body chemistry are individual, so what works for you may not work for someone else. It’s a good idea to explore a few alternatives to see what works best, even if it means considering a new approach that you hadn’t thought of before. You can make larger changes, like enrolling in a new therapeutic program, or smaller ones, like incorporating more activities like puzzles and dancing into your day-to-day life. No matter what approach you take, it’s essential that we all start to invest more in our health and happiness.
