Serenity Behavioral Health Services

 

  Our agency is a proud ally of the transgender community - but our nation has a long way to go in understanding and accepting this beautiful community. So far, 2021 marks the deadliest year on record for our transgender friends and family members. Trans Awareness Week sees organizations and allies bring visibility and support to transgender people and an awareness of issues the community faces. Even though we celebrate transgendered people this week, they need for all of us to be allies every day of the year. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLADD) offers these tips for allies of Transgender People: You can’t tell if someone is transgender just by looking.
Don’t make assumptions about a transgender person’s sexual orientation. If you don’t know what pronouns to use, listen first. Don’t ask a transgender person what their ‘real name’ is. Understand the difference between ‘coming out’ as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and ‘coming out’ as transgender. Be careful about conf...

There is no instruction manual for “letting things go,” but you may find help by journaling. Journaling is a wellness practice that can help you break the cycle of worry and help diffuse the intensity of a feeling or anxiety. The act of getting stuff out of you and onto paper can be very therapeutic. Journaling can help you understand your feelings and sort out problems. Habits for Wellbeing lists these nine reasons for why journaling is important: 1. To develop self-awareness 2. To pay attention to what is going on internally 3. To provide focus 4. To be uniquely you 5. To think things through 6. To work through limiting/negative thoughts 7. To listen to yourself 8. To connect with your heart 9. To put down the burdens you carry There are no rules to journaling. You can journal in the morning or in the evening; you can journal every day, once a week, or once a month. It is entirely up to you. Maybe you find it hard to start? What should I write about? Fortunately with internet access,...

A trigger is something that sets off a powerful memory and puts a person in the moments of the event where they experienced trauma. Triggers can cause irrational behavior, extreme emotion, and can affect our ability to think clearly. They can cause a physiological fight or flight reaction resulting in an increased heart rate, rapid breathing, pale skin, and dilated pupils.   Triggers revolve around the five senses of touch, smell, sight, taste, and sound. They are very personal and arise from a lifetime of experiences. So how can we manage our triggers and extreme emotions? 

 1. Understand that you have been triggered. This won’t make it stop - but it will help you start the process of shifting your state from extreme emotion back to calm. 2. Step away. If you remain, you run the risk of being retriggered and you may say or do something that you regret later. 3. Shift your state. Having a variety of ways to calm down is a good idea. Maybe go for a run, do yard work, walk the dog, ...