Strategies for Emotional Recovery

📍Ever feel like this? This tangled mess of wires looks chaotic, overloaded, and unsafe. And yet—so many of us are walking around with nervous systems that look just like this on the inside. 🔌 After years of living in fight or flight mode—whether due to trauma, high stress, emotional neglect, or constant pressure—our systems become dysregulated. We stay hypervigilant. We can’t relax, even in safe spaces. We confuse rest with laziness. We interpret calm as boring. And eventually, burnout doesn’t just knock… it breaks the door down. And here’s the most heartbreaking part? ✨ We normalize it. We convince ourselves that chaos is character. That anxiety is just “being productive.” That emotional shutdown is a personality trait. But it’s not. It’s a survival strategy. And the good news? Survival mode doesn’t have to be your forever mode. 💡 So what can help untangle this mess? 1. Nervous System Regulation – Tools like breathwork, somatic therapy, progressive relaxation, and vagus nerve stimulation help create safety within the body. 2. Safe Relationships – Co-regulation is real. The nervous system learns safety not just through techniques, but through connection. 3. Therapy or Coaching – Where we explore: What happened to you? What did you learn from it? And how can we unlearn what no longer serves you? 4. Restorative Rest – This isn’t just about naps. It’s about giving your mind and body permission to not be on alert. 5. Self-Compassion – The nervous system heals faster in environments where shame is replaced by softness. And that starts from within. 🧠 Healing takes time—but it’s possible to go from chaos to calm. You are not “too sensitive.” You are not “overreacting.” You are not “lazy.” You’re likely just dysregulated. And your body has been trying to protect you all this time. 📌 Your nervous system isn’t broken. It’s overworked, under-supported, and in desperate need of gentleness. PS: If this image hit too close to home, let it be a moment of recognition—not judgment. You’re not alone. And there is a way forward. Hafsa Fatima #MentalHealth #TraumaInformedCare

Setbacks hit all of us. But the recovery speed separates the exceptional from the average. After facing numerous failures, here's what actually works: 1. Allow yourself exactly 24 hours   Feel everything fully.   Then draw a mental line.   Time-boxing your disappointment prevents spiraling. 2. Extract the lesson immediately   Write down three specific takeaways.   Not vague reflections, but actionable insights.   This transforms failures into valuable data points. 3. Talk to someone who's been there   Not for sympathy.   For perspective.   The right conversation can collapse months of processing into minutes. 4. Create a small, guaranteed win   Complete something simple but meaningful.   Success breeds success.   This breaks the psychological pattern of defeat. 5. Revise your approach, not your vision   The destination remains.   Only the path changes.   Flexibility in method, firmness in purpose. I've noticed something interesting: My biggest breakthroughs always followed my most painful setbacks. Not despite them. Because of them. Resilience isn't about avoiding falls. It's about how quickly you stand back up. What's your fastest recovery from a setback? #Resilience #BounceBack #Mindset #Growth #Comeback

𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 As a sport psychologist, I often talk to athletes about coping with negative emotions following an error (e.g., dropped ball, misplaced pass, or a missed penalty), and how their reaction to mistakes is very important. It is important that athletes (and people) don't dwell on mistakes when they are still in the performance situation - reflection can occur later - and manage their emotions quickly to continue performing so that one mistake does not impact the remainder of the performance. This allows them to prepare for the next play or involvement. This video highlights why this is so important - Ronaldo fails to score from a free kick, outside the box, and within a matter of seconds, he has another opportunity to score. If athletes dwell too on a mistake or a setback and don't cope effectively with negative emotions, they may not be ready for their next opportunity. I have researched coping and coping effectiveness among elite athletes for over twenty years, but this is the first time I have considered the speed at which a person can alleviate negative emotions to be critical. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴? Coping strategies used to regulate emotional distress during a stressful episode are considered emotion-focused coping strategies (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). 4️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 1️⃣ Recognise how you feel after a stressful incident (i.e., lost point, poor shot, or wrong call from an official). 2️⃣ Accept this feeling. 3️⃣ Deploy an appropriate emotion-focused coping strategy. This will depend on what has happened and the time available to cope, but it could include any of the following:  🌬️ Deep Breathing 🖼️ Re-evaluate or reframe the situation 🙂 Forgive yourself for a mistake 💬 Engage in self-talk 👥 Seek social support 4️⃣ Generate a challenge state to create a positive emotion. Research has shown that challenge states can cause positive emotions (Thompson et al., 2020). Do this by: Focus on what you want to happen during the next point or next play and how you will achieve this. Reference. Mark Thompson PhD, John Toner, John Perry, Rachel Burke, PhD, & Adam Nicholls. (2020). Stress appraisals influence athletic performance and psychophysiological response during 16.1 km cycling time trials. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, (2020), 101682.

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that a president role I thought I was a shoo-in for, that I did 9 rounds of interviews for, went to the other finalist, a white dude named [insert Mike/Brian/Dave/Jim]. That day, my toddler happened to be recovering from tonsilitis and fought his afternoon nap, so he was having a meltdown every 17 minutes. The car had a flat tire, so I couldn't run an important errand. My upcoming consulting client pushed my start date to the start of the new year (never a good sign). I knocked over a bottle of 5 ounces of freshly pumped breastmilk for my infant all over the floor. There was laundry to be folded, a pile of dirty dishes, and I didn't know what to make for dinner. So naturally, I picked a fight with my husband. Yeah... oops. I was having a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day." The truth is, some days are like that. And the antidote for bad days can be found in the positive psychology playbook. Gratitude, mindfulness, community - these are great tools for building a well of positive reserves for the hard times. Here's my go-to checklist when I'm in need of a bad mood bust-up: ✅ SEEK NATURE: Spend 15 min outside, preferably where there are trees and flowers. ✅ FIND YOUR "WARM AND COZY": Drink a mug of tea, take a hot shower, cuddle with the dog. ✅ LISTEN TO MUSIC: Plan ahead by making a playlist of songs that uplift you or help you process emotions. ✅ HAVE A GOOD LAUGH: Watch 10 min of standup online... or talk to a 3 year old. ✅ EXPRESS GRATITUDE: Text a friend or family member with a note on why you're grateful for them. ✅ GIVE YOURSELF A PEP TALK: Find a couple mantras and put them on repeat in your mind. My current fave: "Nothing is permanent, and you are capable of getting through this." Sometimes, we need simpler "hacks" to break ourselves from the downward spiral of the mundane, ordinary, not-so-great days. #Mindset #CareerDevelopment #PositivePsychology

3 research-backed strategies I’m using to manage my emotions on Election Day: ___ 1/ I’m practicing “psychological distancing” You know how it’s easier to give advice to other people than to yourself? That’s because you have distance between yourself and their problem. Psych distancing is about intentionally creating space between yourself and your problem. One way to do so is to speak about yourself in third person: I might say, “How is Evan going to stay grounded today?" As funky as this is, it activates the machinery in my brain that I use to help others. Psychologist Ethan Kross has found that this drastically reduces the strength of your emotional reaction. ___ 2/ I’m going for a big old run Author Haruki Murakami has run for an hour a day for 30 years, participating in at least one marathon per year. The main reason he runs? For the neurological benefits. When you engage in aerobic exercise, you produce a rapid increase in the number of neurons in your hippocampus. This lasts for 28 hours. During that time, your neurons wait for intellectual stimulation. If you give it them, your neurons connect with the existing networks in your brain, broadening and densening your brain in the process. This heightens your ability to learn and remember things. ___ 3/ I’m leaning on the people close to me Research shows that you can literally outsource your negative emotions to those you’re closest to, minimizing their impact. In a study at the University of Wisconsin, researchers put people in MRI machines and threatened to shock them at random. There were three groups of participants: 1) People who were alone. 2) People who held the hand of a stranger. 3) People who held the hand of a loved one. The researchers measured fear activity in each person’s brain, and they found something incredible in the third group. → Participants’ brains were much less active. That’s because they could literally offload some of their fear to their loved ones. ___ TAKEAWAY Election Day is an incubator of stress & anxiety. Which makes it the perfect testing ground for some deeply nerdy emotion management strategies. ___ P.S. follow me, Evan Watkins, for more posts about emotions & EQ. ___ Sources: 1/ "Self-Distancing: Theory, Research, and Current Directions" by Dr. Ethan Kross 2/ "Novelist As A Vocation" By Haruki Murakami 3/ "Lending a hand: social regulation of the neural response to threat" James A Coan et al ___ #emotionalintelligence

78% of professionals misunderstand burnout recovery. These 8 proven strategies changed everything for me. 1. RECOGNIZE THE WARNING SIGNS Your body signals burnout before your mind accepts it.  PROBLEM: Ignoring early symptoms leads to deeper exhaustion FIX: Track energy levels daily—if consistently low for 2+ weeks, take immediate action 2. SET FIRM BOUNDARIES Recovery requires protected space and time. PROBLEM: Saying "yes" depletes your already limited resources FIX: Create a "no list" for the next 30 days to prioritize your recovery needs 3. PRACTICE STRATEGIC REST Quality downtime rebuilds mental reserves. PROBLEM: Passive rest (like scrolling) often increases fatigue FIX: Schedule 20-minute blocks of true disconnection—no screens, no goals, just being 4. RECONNECT WITH PURPOSE Meaning counteracts burnout's emptiness. PROBLEM: Exhaustion disconnects you from what matters FIX: Spend 5 minutes daily writing about one meaningful moment, no matter how small 5. RESTORE YOUR BODY Physical depletion precedes emotional burnout. PROBLEM: Stress hormones drain physical resilience FIX: Prioritize sleep above all else, then add gentle movement that energizes rather than exhausts 6. SEEK MICRO-CONNECTIONS Social withdrawal deepens burnout. PROBLEM: Isolation feels protective but accelerates depletion FIX: One meaningful 10-minute conversation daily rebuilds social energy gradually 7. DECREASE COGNITIVE LOAD Mental clutter intensifies burn-out feelings. PROBLEM: Information overload prevents recovery FIX: Create external storage systems—write everything down to free mental space 8. REDEFINE SUCCESS METRICS Achievement obsession fuels burnout cycles. PROBLEM: Productivity as self-worth perpetuates exhaustion FIX: Measure recovery progress by energy gained, not tasks completed ✅ Liked this? Prioritize your well-being with small, science-backed changes. 💚 #burnout #executivedevelopment #stressreduction Follow Sabrina Braham MA, MFT, PCC, Executive Leadership Coach for Insights on Executive Presence, Transformational Leadership & Personal Growth 

Ever felt unwieldy, nervous or anxious? Dark clouds hanging over your head? I know I have. 😫 Days I had anxiety and panic attacks prior to new trainings. 😣 Moments when I was criticized. 😓 Situations where I felt I had failed. Each of these amplified rousing negative feelings. Fortunately, I've gone through much of these and curated a list of ways I used to cope with them. See if these strategies (simply put) can open the doors to help you master your mind better! 1. Reframing (NLP) NLP uses the technique of reframing to change how a person perceives an event or situation, thereby changing its meaning and impact. Anxious = high energy; fear of being an imposter on stage = allocate preparation time. 2. Anchoring (NLP) Anchoring involves creating a stimulus-response pattern where a person can elicit a desired emotional state (e.g., calmness, confidence) by triggering a sensory anchor (such as touching a finger and thumb together). I have anchors for peace, confidence, compassion and excitement. 3. Swish Pattern (NLP) This technique involves creating neurological associations between a trigger and a desired behavior. Visualize the negative scenario and then send it away rapidly, replacing it with a positive image or set of actions, clear the mind, then repeat this until the trigger leads to evidence of acting on the desired behavior. 4. Mindfulness (Positive Psychology) Practices such as mindfulness meditation, deep breathing exercises, and progressive muscle relaxation can help reduce the anxiety. 5. Self-Talk (Sport Psychology) Inner conversations that are negative are often a result of not preparing your own internal script. Decide what is resourceful to say to yourself with (a) motivational phrases (under conditions of self belief) or (b) procedural instructions (under conditions of a sense of threat). 6. Challenging Irrational Thoughts Once negative thoughts are identified and evaluated, the next step is to challenge and dispute these irrational beliefs. Ask questions like, "What is the evidence for this thought?", "What could I tell a friend if they had this thought?", and "Is there a more balanced way of looking at this situation?" Hope these help you see that there are possibilities out there to support you in handling the inner world during difficult situations. Remember that what you are feeling is just a product of your brain, history and meanings. You can certainly find ways out of them using some of these simple tools for growth and mastery. Do you have any questions or experiences about of these approaches? Do share them in comments! 😊

𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦 Recently, I've been studying abnormal psychology, which has deepened my understanding of the biological and psychological factors contributing to an individual's vulnerability to anxiety and panic. Reflecting on my teenage years, I remember how coping with accumulating stress of being in a dysfunctional family pushed me to a point where I felt so overwhelmed and stuck. Today, as a positive psychology trainer, I advocate for a balanced approach, recognizing that life's challenges can sometimes be overwhelming, even to the point of suffocation for some people. People often ask how I manage during such times. Here are strategies I personally find effective: 1. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 Negative emotions signal underlying issues, prompted by specific events. Approach your feelings with curiosity, not judgment, to understand your perceptions and emotions better. 2. 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 Identify what's within your control, what you can influence, and what's beyond your grasp. Awareness of your triggers is crucial; surprisingly, we're often most affected by elements out of our control. 3. 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 While navigating through negative emotions, find ways to alleviate their intensity by intentionally eliciting positive emotions. This could be through walking, practicing deep breathing, expressing gratitude, leveraging your strengths to tackle challenges, or confiding in trusted individuals. For those recovering from past trauma or dealing with intense negative emotions, remember: ➡️ Your past does not define you. ➡️ Your worth and identity go beyond any trauma. ➡️ You are enough! I hope these reflections offer comfort or insight to those in need. You matter. The difficult experiences from our past can also promote growth and resilience. Wishing you a Happy Wednesday! And if don’t feel happy, that's perfectly okay too! Just accept the negative emotions non-judgmentally. We are just humans 🙂 Reflection: How might you tap into that inner strength you carry, even on days when it feels like it's hidden from your view? #positivepsychology #beinghuman

One morning last week, I woke up feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and sad...😫 In the past, those emotions would spiral, affect my productivity for the rest of the day; I would even get more frustrated at myself for feeling those emotions But NOW I have created a mental gym to control my emotions rather than allowing them to control me 🙌 Here are the steps I took which completely shifted my state. Try it out next time this happens to you: 1. Accept that I am feeling these emotions, but detach my identity from the emotion. Ie: I am not a sad person, I am just feeling sadness. - There is a difference, and it will pass. 2. Write down why I began to feel these emotions; what caused it? What upset me? 3. When is the appropriate time to take action on the incident that triggered the emotions? Is there anything I can do to solve it? Put a time block on your calendar indicating when you can take action. 4. Write down 5 things I'm grateful for 5. Physically move my body (Crushed my workout with a killer playlist) 6. Write my long term goals, and visualize myself accomplishing them and feeling the emotions I would experience in this process. By the end of my physical and mental gym routine, I felt inspired, joyful, and motivated to take clear action. This approach has been transformational for me. Instead of getting stuck in negative emotions or ignoring them (making them compound). ➡️ Now, I feel empowered to handle them face on, and they actually give me more insight on how to have a more positive, productive, clear plan moving forward. I'm sharing this because I want you to know you don't have to stay stuck either. We all face challenging experiences, but you can truly turn challenges into strengths. Who else has developed strategies for managing difficult emotions? Comment below, I'd love to hear about your experience and tactics! #EmotionalIntelligence #ProfessionalGrowth #Resilience