Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is one of my favorite therapeutic interventions. It was the modality used at my eating disorder treatment center, and it is full of skills that help with emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and communication. This is one of my favorite skills for managing overwhelm or moving through depression.
Rachel Havocost is a writer and mental health advocate. One of her favorite skills that she learned is called one thing in the moment. This skill has become a go to for her when she's overwhelmed or struggling with depression. I'm going to try and put more DBT skills on my page soon.
If you have low motivation, feel overwhelmed by tasks, or simply struggle with big emotions, then I have something that might help. Hi, my name is Rachel Havocost. I'm a writer and mental health advocate, and I am on a mission to help one person feel less alone. So I've been in therapy for about 20 years, and when I first went to treatment for my eating disorder, they taught us dialectical behavior therapy. So these were a set of skills that were helpful for regulating emotions, handling distress, and building better communication skills.
So one of my favorite skills that I learned is called one thing in the moment. And this skill has become a go to for me when I'm overwhelmed, when I have low motivation, when I'm struggling with depression, when I have too many things to do, and I feel like I can't figure out where to start. It's also really helpful when moving through grief or trying to let go of something we feel like we don't know how to begin with that process. This tool is very, very effective. So essentially, all it is is practicing doing one thing at a time.
For example, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I say to myself is, just your feet on the floor. Then I go to the kitchen, just the berries on the counter. It is truly one thing in the moment, and it's very, very helpful for me to narrate what I'm doing, even if it's just in my head, saying, just the berries on the counter, just the coffee and the filter, just the water in the cup. It's just reminding myself I'm just having to do this one thing. And that helps my brain, a focus on the present moment so I can stay present and stop spiraling about the future or how things are going to happen or change or be where I need them to be.
And it helps me just put 1ft right in front of the other. So instead of getting trapped or stuck in sort of like a paralysis of I can't begin because how am I going to end? I just do one step and I narrate it and I just do one thing at a time. And I truthfully have been doing this for probably the last two weeks because I'm moving through some grief and has been incredibly helpful. It has been incredibly helpful to just focus on one thing at a time, because then I'm not thinking about how will I ever get over this?
How will I ever overcome my grief? How will I ever move on? I'm just focused on the one thing I have to do in this moment. So right now, I'm filming this video and when it's done, I don't even know what is gonna happen next, but I'm gonna tell myself. And now I'm doing this. So one thing in the moment. I hope you found this helpful. I'm going to try and put more DBT skills on my page soon, so make sure you follow me for more. And as always, if you have questions or comments, I am so happy to hear them.
I will see you next time.
