Posts in therapy
Six Powerful Ways to Maximize Your Spravato / Esketamine Treatment through Integration Therapy

Spravato (esketamine) is a magical and mysterious medication, highly effective for treating stubborn depression. These patient administered nasal devices have not only saved countless of my patients’ lives from suicide, but Spravato has rescued so many of them from being trapped in their negative perspectives. That being said, this medication is a powerful force and requires careful and thoughtful compassion and intentionality poured into each individual who opens themselves up to the healing properties this medication can provide.

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Feelings Are Not Facts: A Psychiatrist's Perspective

We encourage you to have a different and more mindful perspective, a different approach to how you respond to stress. You are free to choose how you react to the stimulus instead of being a victim and simply just reacting to your environment. You are free to question assumptions, analyze resources, problem solve, and strategize. Your life can and should be dictated by you. You can choose to react differently to stress. You don’t have to be a victim anymore. We want to teach you about proactive coping, stress reduction, and living a principle-centered life.

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Dudes Expressing Feelings: A Literature Review of Major Depressive Disorder in Young Adult Men

Men suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are diagnosed at half the rate of women but die by suicide 3 to 4 times as frequently (Swetlitz, 2021). Researchers argue that one of the key reasons behind this phenomenon is how societal gender processes affect how men and boys present depression and that “male-typical” symptoms of depression should be incorporated when assessing a diagnosis (Swetlitz, 2021). This literature review will cover the background and significance of MDD, how it affects young adult men, and how counselors can appropriately support this population. It will also focus on the role of other identity layers, such as culture, race, and economic status, in young adult men with MDD. In the results, one will find several critical influences behind why gender-role cultures create a bias toward men being underdiagnosed with depression. This will also cover how men suffering from this disorder can present in ways that might not be seen as a traditional diagnosis for MDD.

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How to Handle Uncomfortable Thoughts

Sometimes we may find that our thoughts feel overwhelming, we get wrapped up in them, or that they may tend to dictate how our day goes. We may find that our thoughts change the ways we behave, which may lead to a cycle of negative behavior or feelings. Uncomfortable thoughts may be seen in people experiencing anxiety, depression, and a variety of other mental health concerns. It is possible to find detachment from our thoughts with the practice of cognitive defusion.

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Just do it! What is Behavioral Activation to treat depression?

Behavioral Activation (BA) is a therapy skill that can be done with or without Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is a type of therapy highlighting how thinking, behavior, and feelings are all inter-related and directly involved with one’s mental health. BA specifically focuses on the behavior portion involved in our mental health.

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Why do I keep pulling out my hair? Hint: It's called Trichotillomania

One condition that we treat regularly at Sweetgrass Psychiatry is trichotillomania. It can be debilitating and we are passionate about helping people with this relatively common condition. Trichotillomania, also known as hair-pulling disorder, is a mental health condition that involves recurrent, irresistible urges to pull out hair from the scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, or other parts of the body. It can be common for affected individuals to spend hours per day hair pulling. Treatment for trichotillomania typically includes a combination of therapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and medication.

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Charleston Area LGBTQIA Resources

At Sweetgrass Psychiatry, we believe everyone deserves the best mental health care treatment and a seat at our table regardless of gender identity, sexual identity, race, ethnicity, religion, age (we are working on providing more services for children), abilities/disabilities, socioeconomic level (which is why we proudly take insurance), and educational status.

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