What is the sound of your music?

What is the sound of your music? 

               What is the sound of your music? An introduction to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

You have the power to feel more positive right now. As a holistic, mind-body centered psychotherapist I help people to find the connection between their thoughts and feelings through educational exercises. Cognitive-Behavioral therapy is an excellent brief therapy approach that has helped a great number of my clients achieve a happier state of wellbeing. We begin with a collaborative process in which I listen to help you identify goals. I then teach and encourage you to obtain your goals while you express and implement change. Goal achievement can happen quickly if you practice techniques between sessions. I would like to share an important CBT technique that you can use immediately to experience an increase in self-acceptance.

I encourage you to think about your voice as an extension of your feelings. How do you sound when you are feeling happy, angry, or sad? You notice a different pitch, don't you? Now focus on your thought voice. Sometimes that angry or sad tone can resonate in our own mind and can take its toll. I would like to help you find freedom from that energy drain. Our thoughts can take on a persona of its own and keep you from living the happy life you deserve. I believe that you have the ability to take care of yourself better by setting your thought voice to that of a soothing and nurturing tone. It's a bit humorous to state, "You're not good enough" in a warm, kind tone. Try it and see. Think of your thought voice as your music and set it to the station that always plays calming, loving, and peaceful melodies. This awareness will help you to a path of better self-acceptance so that you can become less self-critical. 

Chicago Inspired Art Therapy

Sometimes words do not fully capture what we need to express. Creating art can help you open doors into a new perspective. Here is some work that a wonderful client of mine wanted to share. I hope that it inspires you. We all love Chicago, don't we? Art can be a simple expression of love.

Art Therapy:Healing and Transformation at Simply Counseling

Art Therapy: Healing and Transformation by  Aysha Ali Hagene, MA, LCPC Simply Counseling I am grateful to have the opportunity to inspire others to create happier lives through traditional talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and many other therapeutic modalities. Throughout my decade of providing counseling as an expressive arts therapist I am asked most often, "What is Art Therapy?". I encourage a client's creative process through art, play, music, drama, and photography so that stress is better managed, sense of self is strengthened, insight is discovered, and transformation begins. Expressive art therapy is a powerful mind-body intervention that I find eases physiological and psychological symptoms. A helpful example to answer "What is Art Therapy?" is when I provided art therapy to assist a client, (who agreed to share her story under the name Karen), who was suffering from panic attacks and anxiety. Within a session, we focused on themes through art such as grief and loss, new beginnings, dreams, or fears. Creating art helped Karen to externalize emotions that were stuck inside and enabled us to look at the content on paper. Karen shared that after our art therapy work whenever she would think of the traumatic memory that we addressed she would see the art in her mind rather than the disturbing images she held for years. Expressing trauma on paper through art therapy can make the experience feel more external thus giving you greater strength to heal and transform. My philosophy toward healing and transformation is that we can't change what has happened to us but we can change the way we think about it. Expressive Art Therapy is a powerful tool that helps connect inside thoughts, feelings, and perceptions with outer reality so that we may think and act in more empowered ways. I encourage you to embrace new expression to find the healing and transformation that will lead you to a happier life. Aysha Ali Hagene, LCPC, MA, owner and lead psychotherapist of Simply Counseling. Trained at Northwestern University. Psychotherapist with more than 12 years of experience providing healing to children, adults, and couples. She can be reached at 773.966.9363 or click here to email for further information about Aysha's healing work.