According to a 2020 report from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the US. 45,979 Americans died by suicide and there was 1.2 million suicide attempts in 2020 alone.  Further, According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center 2019 Data reports that 33.6% of Females self-reported being in a Depressed Mood, 64% report Mental Health problems and 38% were being treated for Mental Health problems. 

With all of the above data, we couldn't help but pause to ponder the could these feelings we have of being “stuck” actually be mental health issues worth exploring, understanding and resolving? 

Similarly to teens who don’t run home to report bullying. Women who choose to not allow the robust world to squeeze all of the next chapters of life out of them - may not run home or to a loved one to report symptoms of “silently quitting their lives” while beckoning themselves to get “unstuck” (for the last time or for real this time). 

So, we explore these themes in our episode today with our guest, James Hayes, to discuss the theory of contextual conceptual therapy, or CCT. CCT looks not at what is broken, but explores what is happening within us that may be just misunderstood, in the way we may be misunderstood if we speak a different language in a foreign country. CCT brings to the surface answers that already exist within us and helps us learn to love ourselves in the way we give love to others.

In this episode, James teaches us:

1. Traditional therapy is meant to "fix" what is "broken". Contextual Conceptual Therapy (or CCT) looks at not what is broken, but explores what may be just misunderstood
2. Sometimes we become someone we are not to protect the someone that we are. Then we spend all of our time trying to be worthy...but, the deception is that we always were.
3. Understanding of self give us freedom. We have a life path that has been predestined and laid out before us. In moments when we have a mental health events, our life then feels like a train that has been derailed and just needs to get back on track.
4. CCT is about loving ourselves as much as we love the most important persons in our lives. We give our love away, but don't give it to ourselves. If we took the love we give to others and focused it on ourselves, that is where our greatness would come from.
5. Our emotions are messages from our inner spirit. We need to slow down and hear what they are telling us. Every time we tell a lie to ourselves, our inner spirit takes a blow. Stop saying what you won't do, because that's the next thing life will ask you to do.

If you're struggling and need support, please link to the Suicide Therapy Website and know you're not alone. We are here to love you and lift you up as we strive together to be our best selves for the next chapter in our life. If you want to be part of our community, join our FB group and follow us on Instagram.