SOVA

Supporting Our Valued Adolescents: A place to learn, share your strength, be positive, and grow.

SOVA Blog

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Be Positive

Acknowledging the Good as it Occurs

We’ve talked about expressing and writing down gratitude plenty of times before. No matter how big or how small, being able to name anything positive can have an impact on your mental health and wellbeing. Whether it’s being able to acknowledge the good things at the end of the day or being able to look back and read them if you’re feeling down, remembering that there are always good things that can happen, even when it doesn’t feel like it, and knowing there’s a light when things feel bleak can make the biggest difference.

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Educate Yourself / Social Media Guide

Using Social Media At Night

It may be hard for some to remember the last time that they got a proper, full night’s sleep. Schoolwork, jobs, and extracurricular activities are just a few things that can contribute to an adolescent’s hectic and busy schedule. Simply put, there aren’t enough hours in the day for people to do everything that they want, and they often sacrifice the time they should be using sleeping to get everything else done.

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Be Positive / Educate Yourself

Loving Your Body

How often have you looked at yourself in the mirror and thought, “I need to change this” “I don’t like this” or “Why can’t I look like this instead?”  Trust me – you are not alone!

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Educate Yourself

Small goals

“Make small obtainable goals!” is what we hear most of our lives growing up in school from teachers. I’ve never really thought about this until this point in my life where I am trying to grow and make changes in my life to be happier and live a calmer life. An example I’ve heard in therapy is that if someone wants to start going to the gym in the new year, they usually make a goal to go 3 times a week. If they currently go to the gym 0 times a week, 3 times is usually way too many to start out with. In a lot of cases, it is better to start out with 1 day a week as your goal. This is more attainable and if you achieve it, your brain will be happy. When we divert too far from routine, our brain gets scared and can sometimes just not accomplish the goal at all.

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Be Positive

Using Upbeat Songs to Feel Better

It can be easy to put on music that matches your mood when you’re not feeling your best. The best way to describe it is by thinking of the phrase “misery loves company,” or that having something (or someone) that feels just as bad as you are makes you feel slightly less alone.

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LINKS

Finding a Therapist as a South Asian-American

For a number of reasons, young people today are incredibly privileged to have access to empathetic and thoughtful therapists. However, for children of South Asian immigrants, it can be awkward at times to bridge the culture gap with a therapist from a different background. Many scenarios South Asian youths want to discuss in therapy are deeply tied to their cultural identity. Therapists can help navigate these experiences, but South Asians often find themselves giving a lot of context and education.

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Social Media Guide

Unfiltered

You’ve likely heard the phrase over and over again: don’t believe everything you see on social media. This could apply to pretty much everything online, from the content that people choose to post, how they choose to post it, what they include and leave out, and who they choose to share it with.

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Educate Yourself

About My Mental Health

Ever since I was a toddler my mother has described me as anxious, but ironically enough this is one of the few illness I do not have a diagnosis for. Sure I have anxiety especially social anxiety, but I do not care if I do not have an official paper saying I have it or not. Although my psychiatrist may have diagnosed me, I do not really care to look through my medical files to confirm. It is debilitating at times when I am too afraid to order my own food or am unable to talk to a new person. I’m a champion at crying in restaurants. A diagnosis likely will not change that for me, but it might for you. When I am in therapy they’re usually aware right off the bat that I’m an anxious person so I do not need a diagnosis as it does not change my own quality of life.

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Educate Yourself

New Year, Same Toxic Diet Culture

The New Year is upon us, which means that many people have started working towards achieving their new goals for 2022. New Year’s resolutions are so often focused on “wellness,” with constant messaging about weight loss programs, exercise regimens, and fad diets taking over social media. It’s easy to get wrapped up in unhealthy diet culture. With all the diet talk during this time of the year, many people struggle with body image. If you find yourself struggling with your body image a bit more than usual lately, know that you are not alone. Here are some tips that can help you navigate negative body image and survive the onslaught of diet culture that comes with the start of every new year.

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Be Positive

“Guilty Pleasures”

Sometimes we watch, read, or listen to things that we might be embarrassed to admit. These are often known as “guilty pleasures,” or the things we’re ashamed of admitting that we like. It may be because these are considered to be tacky, basic, or are things that are often made fun of by the general public.