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Typically, education for a counseling psychology career begins with an undergraduate degree. Most students choose to begin with a bachelor’s in psychology as this offers a great foundation for advanced education that will follow. Counseling psychology concentrations are uncommon, but some graduate programs offer more options to dive further into this specialty.

Following their undergraduate education, students will pursue either a master’s or doctoral degree in psychology. Regardless of which degree they pursue first, the doctoral degree will be necessary to practice. Most states require a doctoral degree from an accredited university.

How To Keep Yourself Healthy In The Winter

Published on 12/05/2019
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Keeping yourself happy and healthy is important 12 months out of the year, but it becomes a bit more challenging to keep up with normal health routines around the holiday season, especially if you live somewhere that gets cold and gloomy throughout the few winter months. You can’t go out as often because of the weather, and it seems to constantly be dark outside. All of these difficulties add up quickly to create a hard time from November through February. We’re here to give you some tips on how to make these months a little less stressful on your everyday lifestyle.

How To Keep Yourself Healthy In The Winter

Eat Even More Fruits And Vegetables Than Normal

In the winter months it can be very easy to use the holidays as an excuse to forget about your healthy eating habits and eat all of the cookies and mashed potatoes that come your way, but we promise you will feel much better if you are more conscious about how many fruits and vegetables you eat throughout the day as well. Of course, eating sweets and unhealthy foods is perfectly okay, but don’t let that become the staple of your diet. Many people forget that their health is still on the line when it’s holiday time, but don’t let yourself become one of those people. Incorporating fruits and vegetables into food items at the dinner table, like eating a side of carrots or broccoli with your mashed potatoes, can be a good way to get the best of both worlds this season.

Take Vitamin D Supplements

Vitamin D is one of the vitamins that is less-frequently spoken about but needs to receive just as much attention as anything else. Vitamin D is produced naturally by your body when your skin interacts with the sun, which is why people who live in climates that get cold tend to become vitamin D deficient when it’s winter. When you interact with the sun, your body produces vitamin D which has many health benefits, including strong bones and a rockstar immune system. Vitamin D deficiencies can make you feel weak and fatigued, and that is the last thing you want during the winter when you already just want to stay inside and sit by the fire all day.

Don’t Become A Couch Potato

Despite the fact that the air is frigid and the ground is full of snow or ice, try to do one thing every day that will get you up onto your feet and moving around. Instead of spending your whole weekend in bed, try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day; this will help your body keep up with its routine of getting up and doing something as you would during the week. Whether it’s taking up winter sports, taking a brisk walk around the block, or just going to the grocery store and back, getting outside and doing something– and seeing the natural sunlight– will do wonders for both your physical and mental health.

Effective Steps for Managing Anxiety

Have you ever been in a situation that brought on sweats, rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath? You probably weren’t having a heart attack but an anxiety attack. If you suffer from anxiety disorders, learning to manage it is the first step to overcoming it.

Anxiety is characterized by extreme reactions to fearful situations. When someone follows you into a dark alley, those anxious feelings of a racing heartbeat and sweaty palms gives way to heightened senses and a rush of adrenalin that can save your life. This is the fight or flight syndrome.

In the case of frequent anxiety, the fearful feelings are dread of a particular situation and not the situation itself. Getting caught in traffic can cause an anxiety attack over what might happen when you get to work late. Starting a new job can bring on anxiety attacks. You don’t know anyone and fear of that unknown can send you into a panic.

Everyone experiences panic or anxiety in small ways. Like the fight or flight example, it can save your life. In new situations, we get panicky but when the outcome we fear fails to materialize, the anxiety stops. For someone with chronic anxiety, this is not the case.

Every situation that brings anxiety is not life-threatening. More than likely it is an extremely stressful situation that has brought on the anxiety as a way of dealing with it. The unchecked anxiety of this type can lead to depression.

If you suffer from anxiety attacks on occasion or a more frequent anxiety disorder, there are steps you can take to keep your anxiety under control.

1. See a professional. This is always a good first step. Self-diagnosis of any type of physical or mental condition is unwise and can be dangerous. A professional psychologist can help you understand your anxiety and prescribe medication or other effective techniques.

2. Get a good night’s sleep. During the sleep cycle, your body repairs itself. You feel more rested after several hours of restorative sleep, reaching the REM stage. Most people need eight hours a night which varies within an hour or two each way.

3. Exercise on a consistent basis. Exercise helps you to use oxygen more efficiently. It helps to get more oxygen to the brain. It also increases focus which may help you see solutions to problems rather than simply worrying about them.

4. Meditate. Meditation is more than chanting mantras. Yoga is an exercise that involves quieting the mind and controlling your breathing. Simple mediation such as taking 5 minutes to clear your mind every day can work wonders in the fight against anxiety.

5. Manage the worry. When you feel your pulse start to quicken, count backward from ten. As you count, focus on the situation. What has actually happened? Resist the urge to read anything more into the situation.

6. Don’t use alcohol. You might think that the glass of wine is relaxing your tension but alcohol is a depressant. In anxious situations, you could rely too heavily on it and gain another problem in the process.

7. Find some relaxing activities. Stress can rob you of your energy. On a regular basis, do something you like such as gardening, painting, reading or listening to music.

Anxiety can come into your life at any time. It’s normal. When the anxiety becomes frequent you could be at risk for more serious conditions. If you feel your anxiety is starting to take over your life or increasingly causing you problems, seek professional help immediately. There is no need to suffer this terrible condition in silence.