I was on a consult call with a person who was straightforward with me and said they weren’t ready to do therapy yet. Great! I love how this person knows where they are at in their journey.
If you feel the exact same way, you don’t have to sit around and wait until you hit rock bottom. There are some basic steps you can take right now to get your foundation solid. In this blog, there are 5 things I recommend everybody check on if they aren’t ready to start therapy.
[VIDEO EMBED PLACEHOLDER: Insert YouTube Video – "What to Do If You're Not Ready for Therapy Yet"]
1. Go See Your Primary Care Provider
I tell every single one of my clients to see their primary care provider if they haven’t seen them in the past 12 months. You need to make sure your physical health is right.
Before jumping into some deep mental work, you want to sit down with your doctor and make sure that physically, everything is working as it should be. You never know if there is a physical aspect that is messing with your mental health. Ahem…. Hormones. A lot of the time, how we feel mentally is directly related with what’s going on with our bodies. Getting a clean bill of health is step one for everyone.
2. Get Outside for Morning Walks
My second recommendation is getting outside and going for walks in the morning.
10 minute morning walks can do absolute wonders for your mental health, as well as your physical health. It gets the blood flowing, clears your head, and sets you up for a great start for the rest of your day. I haven’t even mentioned the other benefit of getting sun on your skin in the morning. Getting that quick and easy movement in can help improve your mental health.
3. Get Your Nutrition and Hydration Game on Point
The next recommendation is making sure your nutrition and hydration game are on point.
Yes. This is basic but we really tend to forget about ourselves when life gets busy. And if you’re reading this blog, your life is 100% busy. Taking care of the basics makes a huge difference in how you feel day to day.
Eat some fresh fruits and veggies to keep your energy up.
Get enough protein throughout the day to maintain your muscle mass and gains.
Hydrate. Drink water throughout the day. Go on, go fill your Stanley water bottle.
4. Get Consistent Sleep
The number 4 recommendation is to get consistent sleep.
The keyword here is consistent. This means that if you’re going to bed at 10pm and getting up at 6am, do this consistently. Sunday through Saturday. My understanding is this consistency is key for optimal sleep. If you don’t get consistent sleep, your mental state will be thrown off.
5. Connect With Others
The last but not less important recommendation is connecting with others. Reach out and meet up with trusted friends and family members in person if you can.
If you can’t make an in person meetup happen, I know, it’s hard to coordinate schedules nowadays, a phone call would be great, or a video chat also works. It’s a little bit different when you meet up in person vs digitally but either way, taking the time to connect with people who care about you is extremely important for your mental health.
Taking Life One Step at a Time
You don’t have to start therapy before you feel comfortable. Taking care of yourself looks like many different things. I suggest starting with the following: checking in with your primary care provider, getting movement in, eating and drinking right, locking in your sleep consistency, and hanging out with people you trust. Start here and when you’re ready, reach out.
