Hi, friends! I am so grateful that you are back for another episode and I am so excited to share this one with you! This week I’m talking to Dr. Therese Mascardo—she is the CEO and founder of Exploring Therapy, where the mission is to build a life you don’t need a vacation from. She gives such clear and practical insight. You will walk away from this episode with more than some great theories; you will walk away with multiple things you can do TODAY to support your mental health.

Just like Marie Kondo aims to spark joy by tidying up, you can live a more joyful life by applying those same rules to your mental health.

1. Commit

• The first step in anything is committing to the process and making the change.
• “You have to be motivated and willing to commit to therapy for it to work for you.”

1. Visualize

• You need to be concrete and specific about what you want and what you’d like your life to look like. It helps to physically write it down!
• “We think about what we don’t want instead of what we do want, which isn’t that helpful.”
• Visualizing bad outcomes is a shortcut to having anxiety. Though anxiety is like the guard dog of our brain, we can shift our relationship with it.
• “It’s not just God’s way or my way—it is my way together with God.”

1. Declutter

• You need to get rid of the things that are weighing you down.
• “Possessions are things you own and baggage is what owns you.”
• Baggage can be people, thoughts, items, SO many things.
• “We need to treat our emotions as valuable consultants in our lives.”
• To identify your baggage, ask yourself: “How do I feel when I am around this? Is this serving me? 

1. Categorize

• You need to approach your mental health with a plan.
• “A therapist is usually a person who can hear your struggles, hear where you want to be, and say ‘here are the steps we are going to take.’”
• We need to be proactive with our problems and take control instead of being reactive when we feel things falling apart.
• “Allowing yourself to look down the road and plan ahead is one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself.”

1. Order

• “Prioritize the tasks you are taking on for your mental health and focus on the things that move the dial the most.”
• You can’t focus on solving your mommy/daddy issues if you don’t have a roof over your head. You need to prioritize what you put your energy into.
• “Work on your relationship with yourself first.”

1. Joy

• Consult with your feelings and discover what sparks joy.
• “Ask yourself if it sparks joy, not other people, not Instagram, not your friends.”
• Seeking input from others is valuable, but we have taken it too far.

I mean how good is all of her insight? You can keep up with her on Instagram at @exploring.therapy and her website www.ExploringTherapy.com.

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