Nov. 12, 2021, 8:40 a.m.
Volume 2, Resources 23: Mental Health Apps & Emotion-Sensation Wheel
Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice
Hi friends! Last week I wrote about starting to cultivate specific habits in November and I’m happy to report that so far, I have stretched every day, written every day, and written a piece of snail mail every day. I’ve found that I now look forward to my daily stretching (which also has ended up including some daily dancing because of the music I’ve chosen to stretch to). Writing daily has done wonders for my stress levels, as it means I’m chipping away at a ton of little projects and not leaving them all until Sunday evening or the day before they are due or whatever. Funny enough, I hadn’t expected the stress-relief but I welcome it.
It’s a resource week! I’ll get to them after this gratuitous photo of ABBA’s new album that arrived at my doorstep this week!
Resource #1: Further Information on Mental Telehealth Apps
In July 2020 I did a huge resource issue on therapy and I’ve learned some information since then that I’ve updated in that post and I want to share here.
First I want to note that I mentioned apps like BetterHelp and TalkSpace as options and it’s come to my attention (but not surprise) that their privacy policies (or lack-of-privacy policies) are not optimal and the likelihood of them selling your data is really high. If you Google this there is all kind of chat about it but I want to share this Consumer Reports link “Mental Health Apps Aren't All As Private As You May Think” and a direct link to BetterHelp’s privacy policy if you want to crawl through it yourself.
Second, I added a link to TherapyDen, which is a directory to find therapists by location, insurance type, specialty, gender, ethnicity, cost, and more.
Resource #2: Emotion Sensation Wheel by Lindsay Braman
Last year I shared the Feel Wheel (link) and I talked about how, when feeling your feelings, it can help to name them. To this end, I also wrote about the Tea & Empathy cards that have come in handy (link).
In addition to naming what I’m feeling, I’ve also been working on identifying the physical sensations of what feeling a particular feeling is like in my body. Enter the Emotion Sensation Wheel by Lindsay Braman:
The ways that feelings can show up in our bodies is infinite but this illustration can be a helpful starting point. You can go to Linday Braman’s website and download a copy to print yourself. Sometimes we can name the physical sensation before the feeling, so this can help in situations where you might ask, “I’m feeling fidgety. What’s that linked to?” or “I feel empty and I wonder why.”
As with most of the tools and resources I share here, your mileage may vary and this may not be for everyone. But for some of us, it can be a nice start.
That’s it for this week! You can shop any books I’ve mentioned in this newsletter at my affiliate shop, The Infophile’s Bookshop, and support independent bookstores. If you want to send me some snail mail, you can find me at P.O. Box 21481, Oakland, CA 94620-1481. If you want me to send you some happy mail, feel free to give me your address.
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