Healthy Break Rule-breaking for Trauma Therapy and Family Psychology

Apr 20, 2015 | Mood

What does rebellion have to do with depression? What does it have to do with trauma recovery or family psychology?

Rebellion is active. It changes things. It forces a new perspective. Rebellion gets you moving, which fights depression. Rebellion causes you to think on your feet. It provides just enough confusion to force you into creative mode.

 

Try this exercise to get a feel for how a little rebellion can help you think:

Rearrange the furniture in any room of your home. Put things where you don’t think they belong. Set something at an angle. Put a bed or couch in the center of the room. Go into a different room and steal some piece of decor from it. Put that stolen object in your rearranged room. Sit in every corner of rearranged room and look at the perspective you have there. Now, make another change. How do you feel? Pick out something to sell and move it out. How do you feel?

Furniture placement may not cure your depression, but learning to mix it up causes all sorts of internal changes that heal. First and foremost, the act of breaking rules in your living space causes a recalibration of control. You have to let go of something to do this. You have to relax a standard and pooh-pooh the proper. This triggers tectonic shifts of the mind. Neurons work together differently, form groups, break out of their grooves. You learn. You assimilate new data into your working system.

Here’s another list of active rebellions to get you moving again.

  1. Clean out your closets. Donate anything that doesn’t make you feel good.
  2. Paint your front door red or green or yellow.
  3. Take belly dancing lessons.
  4. Study the art of verbal seduction.
  5. Pick a wall in your house and paint a mural on it.
  6. Trade in your mini-van for a vintage Volkswagen bus.
  7. While out on a walk, ding-dong ditch your neighbors.
  8. Send your friend an anonymous gift subscription to Wrestling USA.
  9. Wear a funny hat to the DMV.
  10. Plant catnip in your flower beds.

For more activities tools that can help with depression, check out these simple and pleasant activities that help boost your mood and energy level: http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/docs/ACFB003.pdf

For more about Healthy Rebellions, check out this blog post:

In trauma therapy, I encourage a little healthy rebellion. Because disobedience is good for you. Because it chases away depression. Because it crowds out propriety and invites in hilarity. Because when you laugh or gasp or feel scandalous, you know you’re alive.

If you have questions about my pathway for helping you or how healthy rebellion can positively impact trauma therapy and family psychology, please contact me or call me today at 417-886-8262.

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