Rebekah Shackney LCSW

“Mindfulness is paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to moment."  Jon Kabat-ZinnWhen I first heard the word mindfulness it sounded like new age nonsense.  I couldn’t understand how it could help with everything from decreasing depression to increasing concentration to effectively manage pain.   But when I began to practice, it became very clear how beneficial it could be.  The fact is that the benefits of practicing mindfulness are endless.  But you can’t just read about it.  You have to try it, and I can teach you.  I teach people to practice mindfulness in their daily lives and in meditation.

I take medication, I see a therapist why do I need to practice mindfulness?  Practicing mindfulness is a perfect addition to your mood disorder treatment.  Depression and anxiety change your brain.  The more episodes you have the more your mind turns in a negative direction.  Mindfulness is like rehab for the brain.  When practiced regularly it can stop the cycle of negative thinking, and ultimately  increase happiness and overall satisfaction with life.

Here are a few ways mindfulness is helpful:

Mindfulness gets us out of our heads and into our lives.  So many of us have a tape playing in our heads that is chockfull of criticisms, judgments and worries. (I’m stupid, I don’t deserve happiness, nothing will every get better).  Mindfulness helps us stop listening to the negative messages in our heads, stop comparing this moment to any other, stop thinking about what should be and just be present in this moment.  This is particularly important for those who struggle with depression and anxiety because those negative messages can spiral into an episode of depression or anxiety.

It helps us accept reality as it.  When we fight again reality we are fighting a losing battle and ultimately creating more suffering for ourselves.  We learn to stop fighting that which we cannot change.

It helps us focus on one thing at a time.  I know multi-tasking is all the rage.  We are googling while watching TV while talking on the phone.  Our attention is so divided and superficial that we are not really experiencing our life.  When we focus on one thing in the moment we are much more engaged, much less distracted and much more effective.

Counseling and Psychotherapy in Ossining, NY

Rebekah offers virtual individual therapy, family therapy, and Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) groups.