CHATS Utah

Child, Adolescent, and Adult Treatment Specialists

Accepting new clients (Select Health, DMBA, EMI, Self-Pay, etc.). Now offering the evidence-based practices of Inference Based Therapy (ICBT) as well as Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) for clients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), anxiety and related disorders. In-person and Telehealth options available. Please call us at 801-756-1626.

Shrink-Rap: Gratitude

gratitudeNovember tends to be a chilly month here in Utah. The warmer Fall days seem to be behind us. It becomes harder to get away with leaving the house without some kind of warmer wear in tow. Most of the leaves have fallen off their branches leaving the trees shivering in the cool air. Snow isn’t far off at this point. It can usually be seen staring down at us from the tops of the mountains that surround us. While we can’t do much to control or change the cold, getting colder weather, we can make this month warmer by working to cultivate and express gratitude.

Gratitude is a well researched construct and findings indicate that gratitude tends to have a positive impact on us psychologically as well as physically. On the physical health side of things research findings have shown that cultivating gratitude can reduce stress hormones such as cortisol by over 20% (McCraty et. al). More findings note that recalling feelings of appreciation and listing what one is grateful for decreases blood pressure and lowers heart rate variability (McCraty et. al; Shipon et. al). Additional research has found a relationship between gratitude and improved sleep as well as gratitude and more time spent exercising each week (Digdon et. al.; Emmons et. al).

Psychologically, gratitude has been linked to a plethora of positive research findings. More specifically, gratitude has been found to be related to higher self-esteem, lower risks for major depression, improved resiliency, and an increased likelihood of overcoming trauma (Wood et. al.; Hill et. al.). Furthermore, when we experience gratitude it is very difficult to also experience negative emotions such as envy, anger, resentment, and regret at the same time (McCullough et. al.). Therefore, we tend to experience a decrease in these negative emotions. Finally, gratitude has also been found to be related to lower aggression and higher levels of empathy (Dewall et. al).

There are many many ways to experience and express more gratitude, not just this month, but all year long. Below are just a few of the ways. I hope you can find one that you’d be willing to try.

  1. Keep a gratitude journal. Write about the things you are grateful for. They are likely to be different every day. Don’t worry so much about length. Whether it’s two minutes or 20, as we already discussed above, expressing gratitude is good for you.
  2. Write a thank you note. Whether you send it or not, the act of writing a thank you note is likely to create positive emotions that last. Think of people who have done something kind for you, big or small, and take a minute to express thanks. As a side note, taking a minute to verbally express genuine thanks in person is also a great way to experience gratitude.
  3. Dinner table gratitude. Bring your family in on the action! With your family gathered around the dinner (or breakfast or lunch) table take turns to verbally express what you are grateful for. Do this few times a week. Notice the variability in the responses. Warm, happy feelings for all!
  4. 30 Days of Gratitude. Click on this link for the 30 days of gratitude topic list: http://textmyjournal.com/gratitude-journal-prompts/ With a different prompt each day, 30 Days of Gratitude makes it easy to experience more gratitude in your life.

 

Sources:

Dewall, Lambert, Pond, Kashdan, & Fincham. A grateful heart is a nonviolent heart: Cross-sectional, experience sampling, longitudinal, and experimental evidene. Social Psychological and Personality Science (2012): 232-40.

Digdon & Koble. Effects of constructive worry, imagery distraction, and gratitude interventions on sleep quality: A pilot trial. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being: 193-206.

Emmons & McCullough. Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: 377-89.

Hill, Allemand, & Roberts. Examining the pathways between gratitude and self-rated physical health across adulthood. Personality and Individual Differences: 92-96.

Lyubomirsky. The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. (2008): 89-101.

McCraty, Barrios-Choplin, Rozman, Atkinson, & Watkins. The impact of a new emotional self-management program on stress, emotions, heart rate variability, DHEA and cortisol. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science: 151-70.

McCraty. The effects of emtions on short-term power spectrum analysis of heart rate variability. The Amerian Journal of Cardiology: 1089-093.

McCullough, Emmons, and Tsang. The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: 112-27.

Shipon. Gratitude: Effect on perspectives and blood pressure of inner-city African-American hypertensive patients. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering 68 (2007).

Wood, Froh, & Geraghty. Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psycohology Review: 890-905.

Shrink Rap: Using Gratitude to Increase Happiness

As the leaves fall from the tree outside my office and the world changes color from shades of green to shades of gold, orange and brown, my thoughts turn toward thanksgiving and gratitude (as well as toward the fast approaching Season of Giving).

“Gratitude is derived from the Latin gratia, meaning grace, graciousness, or gratefulness.  All derivations from the Latin root ‘have to do with kindness, generosity, gifts, the beauty of giving and receiving, or getting something for nothing’ (Pruyser, 1976, p.69).  As a psychological state gratitude is a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness and appreciation for life.” (Emmons and Shelton)

With the emergence of the positive psychology movement, gratitude has relatively recently come to the forefront as a psychological principle.  According to research in the positive psychology realm, gratitude can help people cope with negative life-events, help people feel generally more positive and optimistic, and increases individual sense of health and wellbeing.

The following Tedtalk, by Shawn Achor, author of “The Happiness Advantage”, is an entertaining summary of happiness research at Harvard University.  He lists the following five areas that can create lasting individual positive change:

  1. List 3 specific things you are grateful for each day for 21 days.  (Emmons and McCullough, 2003). Dr. Achor asserts that this practice rewires your brain to work more successfully and optimistically.
  2. Journal about one positive experience a day.  This allows your brain to re-live the experience. (Stratcher and Pennebaker, 2006).
  3. Exercise. This teaches your brain your behavior matters.  (Babyak, et al.  2000).
  4. Meditation.  This allows your brain to focus on the task at hand.  (Dweck, 2007).
  5. Random Acts of Kindness/Conscious acts of Kindness (Lyubominsky, 2005).

Shawn Achor states, based on research, if we do the above noted 5 activities we can alter our own levels of happiness.

Watch it on YouTube.com

The first item on Dr. Achor’s list has to do with gratitude.  It includes scanning the past 24 hours each day and noting the top three specific things that occurred that day that you are most grateful for and why.  You can write them down on anything and in any format.  It is most helpful if they are different each day, specific to that day, and include why you are grateful for that particular item or event. It might also be helpful to find a specific time each day that works for you to record the things you are grateful for.

A few examples might be, I am grateful for…

…the fresh apple cider my brother-in-law brought me from his family’s apple farm.  It was so cool and crisp and so kind of him to think of me.

…my daughter’s wrist not actually being fractured.  I am glad she will heal and not have lasting problems.

…the beautiful sunset I enjoyed with my husband as we sat on our front porch and talked.  It was so bright and colorful and I liked sharing the experience with someone I care about.

Shawn Achor concludes that as we train our brain to scan the environment for the good, it strengthens the neuro-pathways that support us looking and seeing the good in our lives. The more we practice it, the easier it becomes to find things in our lives that are positive and meaningful and that we can appreciate.

We are thankful for each other at the Child, Adolescent and Adult Treatment Specialists.  We are grateful for the support we feel and give to each other and for the beauty, strength and humanity of each of our individual clients.  We wish you the best of this season.

We hope anyone that comes across this blog will join us in this 21day gratitude challenge that helps us focus on the good and promotes a greater sense of happiness and wellbeing.

Achor, S. (2010) The Happiness Advantage: The seven principles of positive psychology that find success and performance at work.
Emmons R. A. & Crumplor, G.A. (2000)
Gratitude as human strength; Appraising the evidence. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 56-69.
Emmons R. A. & McCullough, M. E. (2003).
Counting blessings versus burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-being in Daily Life. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 84, 377-389.
Emmons R. A. & Shelton, C. M. (2002).
Gratitude & Science of Positive Psychology. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.) Handbook of Positive Psychology (pp. 459-471), New York: Oxford University Press.
Pruyser P.W. (1976).
The minister as diagnostician; Personal problems in pastoral perspective
Philadelphia, Westminster, 1976.

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