The webinar recording discusses self-care and gratitude as means to enhance mental health, especially relevant given the high anxiety levels in America. Insight counselors Hannah Feliciano and Amanda Gibson share research, practical tools, and personal experiences, emphasizing their positive effects on well-being and overall mental health.
Gratitude is all about the expression of appreciation. We appreciate people, things, and experiences that we come across in our lives; and, as it turns out, this expression of gratitude can benefit us mentally, physically, and emotionally. Several studies over time have shown the benefits that come along with openly practicing gratitude. People who are grateful are happier, sleep better, and even live longer. We don’t practice gratitude because we live happy lives; we live happy lives because we practice gratitude.
When things don’t go as we expect or prefer, the experiences we have instead can be life-enriching. We can even have gratitude for those experiences. It’s all in how you look at it.
I will never forget the moment my best friend Cassie looked at me and said, “You are depressed, and I’m tired of us not talking about it.” I was shocked. I had spent the last several months trying to portray the positive, upbeat person that most of my friends knew me to be. Everyone around me thought I was having a great time! Everyone except for Cassie, who somehow had the ability to read me like a book.