Welcome and Introduction Part 1
Welcome! I am excited to share my passion for ways to feel great! The tools offered on this site are the culmination of years of searching, developing and teaching. My insights that led to the initial vision for myhappyavatar.com sprung a couple of decades ago. I was directing the women’s cancer program at the California Department of Health Services. Women often reached out to me to ask how they might cope with a cancer diagnosis or simply manage their lives in order to follow through with the prevention advice. Lots of information was being provided to them, yet they felt like they were treading quicksand.
I researched the scientific literature that covers the emotional side of disease and health promotion. Much was published about medically ill patients facing mental illness, how to treat depression and anxiety, and how to manage stress. Some studies were quite intriguing. For example coping with cancer diagnosis through positive visioning showed promise, not only to help patients feel better, but also slow the progression of their disease. Clearly the mind-body connection is a key factor that needs greater attention in health care and public health.
I took an educational leave to pursue this passion for the mind-body connection and completed psychiatry training at the San Francisco VA and University of California, San Francisco—focusing on the mental health of patients facing medical conditions. That training and experience demonstrated the important role of cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT) in managing mental illness. CBT addresses the cycle of thoughts and beliefs leading to emotions and behaviors and has a good scientific track record of treating depression among other mental illnesses. The crux of the approach is to help patients become aware of their self-talk and reframe it in ways that are supportive, focusing on what is feasible, and what one can control.
But addressing mental illness and stress did not seem to be enough. All of us need to find joy in our lives. There had to be something more. Then I discovered the field of positive psychology. Innovators, psychologists and researchers, such as Martin Seligman, Sonya Lyubomirsky, Barbara Fredrickson, and others are spearheading an exciting area of emotional wellbeing. Brain imaging studies show that interventions using this approach affect a different part of the brain than treating mental illness. Emotional well-being is not simply the absence of disease!
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