How do you know when you need a therapist and what are some
Dr. Diana Hill:What should you look for when it comes to finding a therapist?
Dr. Diana Hill:And when should you seek a higher level of care?
Dr. Diana Hill:That's what I'm going to talk about today with Dr.
Dr. Diana Hill:Nicole Siegfried on Your Life in Process.
Dr. Diana Hill:As a therapist, sometimes I need to refer clients to a higher level of care.
Dr. Diana Hill:And until now it's been difficult to find programs that are evidence-based
Dr. Diana Hill:And that's why I'm so excited to be sponsored by Lightfully Behavioral
Dr. Diana Hill:mental health treatment, providing high quality evidence-based programming
Dr. Diana Hill:Compassionately.
Dr. Diana Hill:They treat wide variety of diagnoses, including mood disorders, anxiety
Dr. Diana Hill:health organizations that is built around process-based therapy, which is a
Dr. Diana Hill:The company's seasoned.
Dr. Diana Hill:All female executive team brings over 70 years of experience and
Dr. Diana Hill:For more information, go visit lightfully.com
Dr. Diana Hill:Hi, this is Diana.
Dr. Diana Hill:And this podcast is about living well, living psychologically flexible,
Dr. Diana Hill:And I think a lot of us right now are feeling far from thriving.
Dr. Diana Hill:We're mentally exhausted as we've been sustaining a heightened degree
Dr. Diana Hill:This pandemic has been.
Dr. Diana Hill:Incredibly challenging.
Dr. Diana Hill:There was a New York times article that came out recently
Dr. Diana Hill:. Asking therapists about some of the common reasons why people are coming
Dr. Diana Hill:forefront of people's minds and one in four therapists said that suicidal
Dr. Diana Hill:In general folks reported that they're feeling stuck and stagnant
Dr. Diana Hill:the wait-lists are full and they themselves have been impacted by the
Dr. Diana Hill:So if you're experiencing mental health problems right now, I just want
Dr. Diana Hill:And today I get a chance to talk with Nicole Siegfried, who is
Dr. Diana Hill:She's a licensed clinical psychologist and serves as an Adjunct Assistant
Dr. Diana Hill:And she's worked in mental health for over 20 years and has
Dr. Diana Hill:Nicole believes that recovery is possible for all individuals
Dr. Diana Hill:In this conversation, we talk a lot about some of the reasons
Dr. Diana Hill:especially when you need it most.
Dr. Diana Hill:And we go through some of the characteristics of what
Dr. Diana Hill:You may be surprised by some of them.
Dr. Diana Hill:And then go on to talk about some different treatment options.
Dr. Diana Hill:And stay tuned to the other side of this conversation with Nicole,
Dr. Diana Hill:Just a reminder with your daily practice, you can get a download of a PDF
Dr. Diana Hill:if you go to the show notes and click on the link there, every single episode has
Dr. Diana Hill:so that you can build these processes, these psychological processes into your
Dr. Diana Hill:So I'll see you on the other side with that and enjoy my
Dr. Diana Hill:Take two with Nicole Sigfried we, we tried to record this a week ago and we both
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yes.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Which is neither of us is boring.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:So, um, we want to talk about this in a much more relatable way that people
Dr. Diana Hill:I think that sometimes therapy and the idea of therapy
Dr. Diana Hill:And so I think we had those hats on and we were trying to explain these
Dr. Diana Hill:And what I'm hoping that we can do today is take a macro level, look
Dr. Diana Hill:How do you know, if you need to go to therapy in the first place, and then
Dr. Diana Hill:And how do you know if you need more than So that's sort of big picture.
Dr. Diana Hill:Uh, but before we do that, I wanted to ask you a question that you asked me
Dr. Diana Hill:And I think it's because I just love your program so much, but you sent out
Dr. Diana Hill:And then you can ask me, ask me mine.
Dr. Diana Hill:But one of them was what is your walk-on song?
Dr. Diana Hill:And another one was what was your first job?
Dr. Diana Hill:So I'm curious about that for you, Nicole.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:Oh, those are both good.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:Well, so my walkup song, you and I were talking about this earlier that
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:And so if I'm thinking about.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:Seeing a client or I'm doing clinical work.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:My walkup song for that is going to be something much more compassionate
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:And so for that, I, what comes to me, which I feel in my heart is one of
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:And I think that song just really exemplifies this idea of.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:How things are around us are very beautiful.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:If we take the time to take them in, um, I myself have trouble with that at
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:And, and so it's a good reminder to me of taking a breath before session
Dr. Diana Hill:And when you told that to me at first, you were worried
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yeah.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yeah.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Well, because it's hard.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I think I have to sometimes keep this in check.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I am really optimistic person, but sometimes, you know, when you're in
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:pain, it's hard to be in the presence of someone that, um, has a lot of hope
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so I always want to be able to balance.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Being hopeful because I have hope for each client that sits before me and being
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:So, um, I wanted, I want the song to kind of put me in that
Dr. Diana Hill:And it's interesting because some of the research on
Dr. Diana Hill:So you want a therapist that's hopeful and also for you to have hope for the
Dr. Diana Hill:And we can talk more about that, but, so, and then what was your first.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:It's so funny that you asked this because.
Dr. Diana Hill:It's embarrassing.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Well, mine's really embarrassing.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:We just talked about this on one of our team calls.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so my first job was as a dancer singer in a theme park, um, sort
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:So that was my first job.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:So it's, it was an unusual.
Dr. Diana Hill:Yeah.
Dr. Diana Hill:And then usually one, it probably says something about you
Dr. Diana Hill:So you're the clinical, you're the Chief Clinical Officer.
Dr. Diana Hill:Yeah.
Dr. Diana Hill:You know, large treatment, uh, behavioral health program lightly, and
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:yes.
Dr. Diana Hill:There you go.
Dr. Diana Hill:Well, Yeah.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:for sure.
Dr. Diana Hill:Those two questions, uh, sort of like a
Dr. Diana Hill:the.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yeah.
Dr. Diana Hill:My walk-on song and actually learned, just
Dr. Diana Hill:Cause my kid plays baseball and they actually this.
Dr. Diana Hill:They actually play a song while they go out onto the field
Dr. Diana Hill:And it's kind of to pump you up and remind you in some ways what
Dr. Diana Hill:And.
Dr. Diana Hill:The one that I sent you was about compassion.
Dr. Diana Hill:And it's a great song called Compassion by Luicinda Williams,
Dr. Diana Hill:But the song that actually just came to me as you were speaking, is a
Dr. Diana Hill:And it's a chant and in the chant, Twameva she chants to the mother, the father, the
Dr. Diana Hill:And I, when I think about therapy, I think about therapy as being so
Dr. Diana Hill:the room between me and my client and a lot more about just this huge,
Dr. Diana Hill:And I feel like, especially right now, we need, we need all those people right now.
Dr. Diana Hill:We need our mother or sister or friend, everybody involved in
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yes.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yes.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, yes.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:In fact, I mean, it's the, we talk about the COVID pandemic,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:For many reasons.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, our mental health is in the worst place that it's been as
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, and so one of the things that's really interesting about that is that
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:So, I think like in 2018, 2019, that the three, let me think of this.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Right?
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:The three main causes of death for young adults were what some people have referred
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so that was kind of leading up to the pandemic.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And then the pandemic was sort of a flame that ignited those things into somewhat
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And people much smarter than I am.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:If you have dug into, like, what are all of the reasons for that?
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:What has, what has led up to that?
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:What has gotten us where we are in.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:In my mind.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I just think of it very simply as, um, it's simply that we're in pain,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And that by itself wouldn't be a problem.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Wouldn't be problematic, but it's the way that we deal with that pain.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:That's getting us in trouble.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And when we look back.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:, where we are just in the evolutionary process, you know, our ancestors
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And that's, what's been passed down generation to generation.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Although that's good.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:It makes great problem solvers.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:It's not exactly helpful in tenderly holding our emotional pain.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:It's almost as though we were having, uh, a collision of sorts of where our.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Advancements in our cognitive abilities.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Our problem solving abilities are really, , interfering with our ability to thrive.
Dr. Diana Hill:I heard Steve Hayes and he has this wonderful
Dr. Diana Hill:And I'll put it in the show notes where he was speaking to a large
Dr. Diana Hill:And in it, he said that psychopathology is energy misdirected, and that
Dr. Diana Hill:to connect and belong yearnings to feel good, but we get narrowed in
Dr. Diana Hill:And that's what I think we're finding right now is that many people are
Dr. Diana Hill:And in a lot of ways, like how do you, how do you cope with this?
Dr. Diana Hill:But we actually really need to be able to do is to adapt.
Dr. Diana Hill:We need to be able to have cognitive flexibility and self-compassion and find
Dr. Diana Hill:But what we tend to do is to kind of silo off and do sort of these old ways
Dr. Diana Hill:it's addictions or isolation or it's other types of experiential avoidance that just
Dr. Diana Hill:And I know that for myself, because certainly I've seen that.
Dr. Diana Hill:During the pandemic, I've seen my own mental health kind of decline.
Dr. Diana Hill:And really probably at its Nadir point was summer 2020, like, like many people.
Dr. Diana Hill:And it's interesting because I, I reached out to some therapists, friends asking
Dr. Diana Hill:And what would they think would be, you know, suggestions for
Dr. Diana Hill:And one of them responded back just by saying.
Dr. Diana Hill:I just think you're lucky if you can find a therapist at this point,
Dr. Diana Hill:So there's like the barriers to treatment to getting treatment.
Dr. Diana Hill:And then there's also just the barriers of access to treatment.
Dr. Diana Hill:In particular, certain groups have a lot less access to therapy and
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Absolutely.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I love what you said about this idea of our core yearnings and that
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And I think about that too.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I, I love the way that Steve Hayes describes it.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And, and when I think about, um, sort of how we got there, It's it's this idea
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:with the evolutionary history of where we are emotionally, because
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And that was evolutionarily, adaptive so much so that, like, we just
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:That is just really at the heart of being human.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Connect with others.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And what makes sense to me is that that has been thwarted in many
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And then, like you said, we try to then, um, cope with that or
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, in other situations in terms of like problem solving or thinking it through,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And where it really catches up with us is, like you said, when
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I mean, so if we think about it, in terms of our ancestors, those ancestors
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:part of a support group, we're much more likely to survive because there
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so we really, um, you know, that those skills, I suppose, have been passed down.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Been thwarted a lot by just our society, but also by COVID.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:But then when we try to go and ask for help and to seek treatment,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And the way we get tripped up, we get in our heads and we say things
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Or you should, um, be able to think this through or, um, just don't think
Dr. Diana Hill:I think another one is, is what will people think.
Dr. Diana Hill:Like, what, what will people think if I ask, if I say this is really how,
Dr. Diana Hill:actually that, you know, we, we, we lie as, as a, as a species.
Dr. Diana Hill:We lie all the time, every day we're, we're lying.
Dr. Diana Hill:And actually there's some research that shows.
Dr. Diana Hill:Our lying, prevents, um, real sort of connection between our
Dr. Diana Hill:Cause we don't want to know, and we lie to ourselves, but I know, you know,
Dr. Diana Hill:ups and downs over the course of my life and my own mental health, that's
Dr. Diana Hill:And I know that for my clients too.
Dr. Diana Hill:I mean, I, I know that every session that I'm in, there's
Dr. Diana Hill:And actually I have a good, um, therapist, friend, Meg McKelly that
Dr. Diana Hill:What is it that you felt like couldn't say because we even lie to our therapists.
Dr. Diana Hill:Even if we can get to therapy, we don't tell the truth.
Dr. Diana Hill:And that's part of our, our, our, again, that like that yearning, gone wrong
Dr. Diana Hill:And what if people saw like really how I really am doing, which I
Dr. Diana Hill:Folks are not doing well it's, , we've been bombarded for, you know, we're
Dr. Diana Hill:And people are exhausted.
Dr. Diana Hill:We've been hypervigilant for a long time.
Dr. Diana Hill:We're tired of being hypervigilant.
Dr. Diana Hill:Our lives have been kind of sent sideways.
Dr. Diana Hill:The ways that we connect, we can't connect our travel plans, our vacations, our, um,
Dr. Diana Hill:Um, or really having a, holding a lot of the impact and it's tiring
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I think that one of the other things that is so scary
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Being able to connect to your therapist or to really open up into, to say the thing
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Is that not only are you afraid?
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Like what are they going to think?
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:But what if they can't hold it?
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:What if they don't really, they still can't see you.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:They don't.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yeah, they can't validate what you've gone through.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so I know personally that is something that is a fear of mine.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, you know, in my own therapy.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:It's, it's so isolating to hold on to things, but it's even more isolating
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And that, that is it's just vulnerable and it's risky.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so in seeking therapy, that is.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:That's like the, you know, the, the biggest risk you can take, because
Dr. Diana Hill:Oh, my gosh, you just hit the nail on the head.
Dr. Diana Hill:I, in my reach out to therapists, I also reached out to a friend of mine.
Dr. Diana Hill:Who's been in therapy for a long time and asked her about like what
Dr. Diana Hill:And I asked her what, you know, what are the signs of a good therapist?
Dr. Diana Hill:And she sent me actually the signs of when to run from her therapist.
Dr. Diana Hill:And one of those, one of those.
Dr. Diana Hill:When you say something to a therapist and they cringe or
Dr. Diana Hill:And for her she's she struggles with, um, she struggled with postpartum depression.
Dr. Diana Hill:And there's a lot of things that show up when you have postpartum depression
Dr. Diana Hill:Like, I feel like I could harm my baby.
Dr. Diana Hill:I have worries about that.
Dr. Diana Hill:Or I feel like I can't take care of my baby or I feel like I don't love my baby.
Dr. Diana Hill:Right.
Dr. Diana Hill:And what if you were to tell that to someone and they can't hold.
Dr. Diana Hill:And I think that's where a psychological flexibility on the part of the therapist,
Dr. Diana Hill:Like you need to have a therapist that can stay with you, be present
Dr. Diana Hill:And if you're someone that is supporting another person,
Dr. Diana Hill:It looks scared, but like say, okay, you know, here we are.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:I can hold your pain.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:And sometimes when, when we're talking about emotional pain, it feels too
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:Cause if you then say you, you reach out and you risk trying to share it with
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:I mean, the damage that that can do just feels irreparable, um, or I
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:
Speaker:a therapist to be able to hold that, but just we as human human to human
Dr. Diana Hill:Hi folks.
Dr. Diana Hill:I want to tell you about a few live events that I'm offering
Dr. Diana Hill:I'm going to be at insight LA on February 11th, online
Dr. Diana Hill:If you are a mental health practitioner, join me at PESI for their Body Image
Dr. Diana Hill:And then finally, I'm offering a workshop with Praxis, continuing
Dr. Diana Hill:So you can join me there.
Dr. Diana Hill:You can check these all out on my event page at Drdianahill.com.
Dr. Diana Hill:So let's talk a bit about, like, how do you know if you should seek therapy
Dr. Diana Hill:I mean, that's a lot of times we say like, oh my gosh, my sister needs a therapist
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um,
Dr. Diana Hill:someone else in doing it?
Dr. Diana Hill:And then how do you know if you need it or someone.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Well, first of all, one of the things
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:The majority of people who are really struggling and who need therapy, the
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And that is so discouraging to me because we know that early intervention.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Can is really key in trying to create a life of well-being a life worth living.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so that time, it just feels like last time.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, and so I always want to be able to talk to people to say, if you're
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:That's your indicator.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:If you're having to have the discussion with yourself, that is your indicator.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:My husband and I are both psychologists.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so we joke all the time that our kids are either really well adjusted
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:, but they, they both are, they wouldn't mind me sharing this.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:They both have been in therapy and after they went, they said, This everyone
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And what a world we would live in, if that were the case, you know, um, more
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:even more so, so my first, um, thing I would say to people is if you ask
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Then the answer is probably yes, and we all can benefit from it.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And in many ways, , there are times when our struggle, , it becomes at
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Uh, necessity is it is a true necessity to seek treatment.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And that's when your symptoms really start to interfere with the life that you want.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And I know that, that I, I, you know, I think about how long I've sought
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And I've thought about it just even in thinking about this
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I got help.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And how long, how many times I talked myself out of it and with really,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And, um, how many times I really wish I would have gone sooner.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so, um, when you really feel like it's interfering with your life and the
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And in some ways that's as simple answer.
Dr. Diana Hill:And our approach to therapy is so
Dr. Diana Hill:You know, it used to be sort of like either you have the diagnosis or you've
Dr. Diana Hill:But I think that therapy now is a much broader umbrella where it certainly can
Dr. Diana Hill:you're struggling with severe depression or anxiety, that's interfering with
Dr. Diana Hill:And, and it's really narrowing your life.
Dr. Diana Hill:Then you need to have treatment that, that you, you, you don't do this on your own
Dr. Diana Hill:Right.
Dr. Diana Hill:And so, and getting an evaluation and getting treatment that matches.
Dr. Diana Hill:What, what you're struggling with.
Dr. Diana Hill:So evidence-based approaches and there are, there is a difference between
Dr. Diana Hill:that will, that will target your specific struggles and the goal isn't
Dr. Diana Hill:But really the goal is about how to live a fulfilling life and
Dr. Diana Hill:And I would say that is the goal of all therapy, really to help humans flourish.
Dr. Diana Hill:And what does it mean to flourish for you in your.
Dr. Diana Hill:Which is why I'm super excited about, you know, these process-based
Dr. Diana Hill:And that act is one of them of looking at the underlying processes to living well.
Dr. Diana Hill:And what, what are the processes have changed that.
Dr. Diana Hill:Really promote our optimal wellbeing.
Dr. Diana Hill:And then what are the processes that we get entangled in that keep us stuck?
Dr. Diana Hill:And those very same processes are probably going to be the ones that
Dr. Diana Hill:So that's kind of interesting, right?
Dr. Diana Hill:It's sort of like that, monster is in your, in your head sort of
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And just talking to you, I'm thinking about this sort of
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:the ways that we were talking before of how we've evolved as humans to be these
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so you're setting up all of these diagnoses and symptoms and these
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:checklistsand trying to identify an underlying disease really falls into that.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And I think misses the, um, misses the point of emotional
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I agree with you.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I think what's beautiful about the process based approaches is instead
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:checklists, it looks more at what are the processes that you're
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And what are some processes that you can engage in that
Dr. Diana Hill:Absolutely.
Dr. Diana Hill:And there's now some cool emerging research behind it.
Dr. Diana Hill:So, uh, Steven Hayes, who's one of the co-founders of act and Stephan Hoffman
Dr. Diana Hill:death star from star wars where it's going to like, have like this big
Dr. Diana Hill:I think it was like 55,000.
Dr. Diana Hill:Research studies and looked at what is it in therapy when somebody is changing,
Dr. Diana Hill:And those are the processes.
Dr. Diana Hill:So for example, if you go on vacation and you come back from
Dr. Diana Hill:There could be a lot of reasons why it could, because you've got
Dr. Diana Hill:It could be because you stopped drinking coffee and you
Dr. Diana Hill:It could be because you got away from work.
Dr. Diana Hill:Maybe you had a better night's sleep.
Dr. Diana Hill:Those would all be potential processes that could contribute to you feeling
Dr. Diana Hill:That help people promote the help people change.
Dr. Diana Hill:And there's a lot of them in act.
Dr. Diana Hill:We look at six of them in particular, but there's a lot of them, but they really
Dr. Diana Hill:And I'd love for you to talk a little bit about, um, some of those
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yes.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Well, and you said it in a really good way in terms of the ways that
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, the ways that we conceptualize.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Who we are ourselves and the ways that we interact with one another.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so we've really, um, extrapolated in some ways, or maybe even simplified
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And the ways that we look at it are in terms of processes, change associated
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so with that, being able to attend to the present moment rather than being
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:compassion for your thoughts and being able to separate from your thoughts
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:We were talking about that in terms of this core yearning for belonging
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so if we can develop toward developing interpersonal connection
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:principles of creating a life that's driven by your values, more so than
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so emotion, flexibility, and rather than.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, emotion, uh, avoidance and dysregulation.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so we boiled it down to those four categories instead
Dr. Diana Hill:And you could see how something like that would be helpful
Dr. Diana Hill:There's a degree of mindful self-compassion to acknowledge,
Dr. Diana Hill:This is anxiety provoking.
Dr. Diana Hill:And this isn't, you know, this is a normal response to an abnormal situation.
Dr. Diana Hill:And I need to have some, you know, self compassion and common humanity about
Dr. Diana Hill:Uh, and then being able to know our values to live from our values and that
Dr. Diana Hill:on what are some effective ways to deal with anxiety, or maybe start a
Dr. Diana Hill:And ultimately also find that connection with people.
Dr. Diana Hill:And break down these barriers to us, having to be in our hiding holes with
Dr. Diana Hill:We have to keep those under wraps, but really opening and allowing for our
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Absolutely.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Absolutely.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And that combination can really then lead to wellbeing.
Dr. Diana Hill:So, okay.
Dr. Diana Hill:So we've talked a bit about what some of the barriers are to
Dr. Diana Hill:What treatment could look like.
Dr. Diana Hill:And I will say with those processes, those could show up and ACT, but
Dr. Diana Hill:And, um, the therapists that have a theoretical orientation and sort
Dr. Diana Hill:processes underlying wellness, and maybe understand some of the research are
Dr. Diana Hill:But I want to talk to you a little bit because you've
Dr. Diana Hill:know, this, isn't your first rodeo in terms of developing treatment
Dr. Diana Hill:And I'd love for us to talk about like how to find a good therapist,
Dr. Diana Hill:And I want to talk about that from two different angles.
Dr. Diana Hill:One from the angle of actually what the research says, and then another, from,
Dr. Diana Hill:And I can even share some more of what, some of what my friends
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yes.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Well, you and I we've talked about this before that, when we look at
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:therapy, a lot of times it boils down to aspects of the therapeutic
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:A lot of the weight in the effectiveness of psychotherapy.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so a lot of times I think that people may look for someone who has a lot of
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And although you definitely want someone who, um, has good, um,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:You also want someone who is relatable, someone where you're going
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And sometimes that's hard to know, um, you know, looking at psychology
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:which it feels a little bit like, um, uh, online dating or something,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I said, okay, I'm going to take the step to see to see as a therapist.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, and now I'm going to go see that person.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:You have to be willing to either, if it, if you didn't feel like it worked
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, a lot of times, Um, people get discouraged with that first appointment
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so I always tell people, give it a second appointment a chance
Dr. Diana Hill:Yes.
Dr. Diana Hill:So certainly the therapeutic relationship is like central and
Dr. Diana Hill:You want to trust your therapist, want to feel like you can open up,
Dr. Diana Hill:You want to feel empathy and care and your therapist just needs to
Dr. Diana Hill:So if there's some, like, you know, that's just one of the
Dr. Diana Hill:Predicts better therapy.
Dr. Diana Hill:And like I said before, psychological flexibility of the therapist,
Dr. Diana Hill:call non-specific factors, but it's actually quite specific there it's
Dr. Diana Hill:And yes.
Dr. Diana Hill:Experience does not necessarily map on to outcome.
Dr. Diana Hill:Neither does degree.
Dr. Diana Hill:Neither does gender.
Dr. Diana Hill:Neither does age.
Dr. Diana Hill:Those things don't necessarily predict the, um, effect
Dr. Diana Hill:And another aspect that's kind of interesting about therapist is that
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:That's very validating to me.
Dr. Diana Hill:Validating.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yes.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:But what that says to me is that people who may experience more self-doubt
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so what to me might be, you said that your friend gave you a list of like, when
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:behind their name, and hasn't really engaged in trainings or any updates, you
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:learners who are keeping themselves um, competent and on the cutting
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And I think it's those individuals who experienced self doubt that
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Steve Hayes says that experience predicts constant.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:It's not competence and it's not even just an adage.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:It's the research shows this.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And the reason is that experience can sometimes occur in a silo.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And when that happens, you're not necessarily getting feedback
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so maybe those individuals who experienced self doubt are more likely to
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so that would be someone you would want to look for I think in a therapist.
Dr. Diana Hill:Another aspect that I think is really important is the therapist
Dr. Diana Hill:And privileged and power in the therapy room, privilege and power and contextual
Dr. Diana Hill:So.
Dr. Diana Hill:For a long time therapy has been very individualistic in nature.
Dr. Diana Hill:Right?
Dr. Diana Hill:Kind of like it's about how you're thinking and it's about how you're
Dr. Diana Hill:impact of things like oppression or stigma or all these other contextual
Dr. Diana Hill:Maybe you're in a workplace environment that's really
Dr. Diana Hill:Right.
Dr. Diana Hill:And.
Dr. Diana Hill:Also how that shows up in the therapy room.
Dr. Diana Hill:So one of those, the other run thing that my girlfriend said was I run,
Dr. Diana Hill:Because there's a positionality there of putting yourself in a position of power.
Dr. Diana Hill:And I think it's so important in therapy.
Dr. Diana Hill:There's many layers of power there's power differentials that we can
Dr. Diana Hill:client of color there's privilege and positionality in that dynamic, And
Dr. Diana Hill:If I have all my credentials on the wall and I'm coming in as an expert,
Dr. Diana Hill:And it's so important that it's the client's goals and it, what the
Dr. Diana Hill:Not the therapist.
Dr. Diana Hill:So that's another thing that you kind of can, it's sort of maybe
Dr. Diana Hill:Pretty, I mean, there's, some of these are kind of intuitive, um, senses of how you
Dr. Diana Hill:Um, like, social action, are they putting themselves in.
Dr. Diana Hill:In that, in that way, that's indicates that they may be that
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Absolutely.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:There may be studies that have been done on this, but in terms of like getting
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:desk, and maybe your chairs up higher and there's this lower, I mean, all of
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:, reflect maybe some of the more inflexibility or
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so it may be that in those situations, that's like a boundary
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so it, that armor though blocks connection.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And we're talking about really creating a culture at Lightfully that, that
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:When I think about therapy and we were talking about being seen before.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And I think about this too, for employees, I think.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Our client to come in.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I went employees to that work with us to feel that way that they feel
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so being able to take into account our own privilege, our own lens through
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:our clients or allowing them to feel seen, um, is of utmost importance
Dr. Diana Hill:It's, it's an ICU.
Dr. Diana Hill:I care about you.
Dr. Diana Hill:And also I think there's something in therapy.
Dr. Diana Hill:That's about.
Dr. Diana Hill:And I'm not gonna let myself get entangled in it.
Dr. Diana Hill:Probably, I think one of the best therapists that, um, I know I will
Dr. Diana Hill:of my really good friends, she's actually a sports psychologist and
Dr. Diana Hill:She's worked with like athletic, the Olympic teams,
Dr. Diana Hill:As a therapist, you need to have this sort of view where there's enough distance
Dr. Diana Hill:And you have to have that awareness.
Dr. Diana Hill:So it's like, I see you.
Dr. Diana Hill:And I see myself and I see the pattern between us and I see my own
Dr. Diana Hill:And you're juggling all of this at once.
Dr. Diana Hill:And it does take a level of self.
Dr. Diana Hill:So one of the things that I look for in therapist is I want a therapist
Dr. Diana Hill:I don't want to know exactly.
Dr. Diana Hill:You don't have to tell me all the details, but you've been
Dr. Diana Hill:We don't want that, you know, TMI in therapy.
Dr. Diana Hill:You don't want to have an over disclosing therapist, but you
Dr. Diana Hill:They've been through something in their life, or they've
Dr. Diana Hill:So they.
Dr. Diana Hill:I speak from a place of greater depth and also know their own patterning
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yes, yes.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Yeah.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:They have to be willing to do the same work that we're asking our clients to do.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And, um, that to achieve that level of self-awareness that we're
Dr. Diana Hill:Okay.
Dr. Diana Hill:So we want to talk about, I wanted to talk to you about three things, like,
Dr. Diana Hill:How do you find a therapist?
Dr. Diana Hill:And I will put a list of some of these on, in the show notes, so that you'll be
Dr. Diana Hill:And then the third thing that I wanted to talk to you about is something.
Dr. Diana Hill:Very personal to me, which is something that I care a lot
Dr. Diana Hill:So once a week therapy isn't enough and somebody needs
Dr. Diana Hill:It's like a super hard thing to do into a higher level of care.
Dr. Diana Hill:So I'd love to talk about the different types of levels of care.
Dr. Diana Hill:And the reason why this is important to me is I've been on the side of clients
Dr. Diana Hill:I've experienced it from the realm of running a IOP and seeing just the magic
Dr. Diana Hill:treatment that just, you take out, carve out that space to work really deeply
Dr. Diana Hill:And I've also experienced it as a teenager.
Dr. Diana Hill:I was in a residential treatment and I attribute that time
Dr. Diana Hill:And I'm so ever grateful to a residential treatment for being able to help me.
Dr. Diana Hill:It wasn't the whole recovery process, but really get me started
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Well, I love the way that you're saying that.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I think that a lot of us bring our own, um, the reason a lot of these things are,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And, um, I told you this before that I'm also recovered from, um, an eating
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And It was very vulnerable that we talked about this earlier,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And there were times along the way that my own thinking
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so, so after you reach out and let's say you're in outpatient therapy, And
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:A lot of times, if we get tangled up with our thoughts again, around that process,
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:So we tell ourselves things like this should have worked.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:There's something I'm fundamentally flawed.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:There's something wrong with me that this isn't working.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I'm not trying hard enough.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I'm a failure.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And that kind of keeps people stuck when really the.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:The real answer is that once a week, isn't what you needed.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I use examples all of the time.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:If someone were to say, you know, you're supposed to take aspirin, Three times
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:It wouldn't, it wouldn't work and you really just needed the
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so in this situation, the person might need a different dose of
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so a larger dose of treatment is exactly like you said, it's, it allows
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Um, and to set aside time where you can really accelerate the
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I tell clients that they get to decide, of how many.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:The doses, the dose is that's one of the things that they are in charge
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:to get, things accelerated to where then you can come back into life and start
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:For many people, that road looks very different.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Some people spend longer in the residential side of things.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And other people, have more of like a day treatment kind of option
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:Like you talked about before, like an intensive outpatient where it just
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:a week where they're able to be back in life, but having the structure to
Dr. Diana Hill:And what I want to say about that is that you don't have to
Dr. Diana Hill:So there's.
Dr. Diana Hill:Like inpatient where you're in a hospital and that would
Dr. Diana Hill:If you were having, you know, medication issues, psychosis, suicidal ideation,
Dr. Diana Hill:Right.
Dr. Diana Hill:And then there's residential treatment as the next level down
Dr. Diana Hill:And then there's intensive outpatient programming and then maybe group
Dr. Diana Hill:And you don't need to know because what you do is you make a phone call to a
Dr. Diana Hill:They do a full assessment on you.
Dr. Diana Hill:And in this really full detailed assessment, they give you a
Dr. Diana Hill:You are free to choose.
Dr. Diana Hill:You are not forced.
Dr. Diana Hill:You are always free to choose what treatment option is best.
Dr. Diana Hill:But they'll give you recommendation based on a lot of experience with a
Dr. Diana Hill:And I would recommend folks, like if you're concerned about somebody else.
Dr. Diana Hill:If you feel like maybe you need a higher level of care, or if you're a therapist
Dr. Diana Hill:Because I think also that's the other thing is sometimes it's a therapist.
Dr. Diana Hill:We also need to say like this isn't working anymore.
Dr. Diana Hill:I care about you.
Dr. Diana Hill:And because I care about you so much, I want you to get more treatment.
Dr. Diana Hill:Pass this podcast.
Dr. Diana Hill:Because sometimes it's just helpful to hear these different options and it can
Dr. Diana Hill:more about different levels of care, learn more about getting therapy, learn
Dr. Diana Hill:So we hope that you pass this on to folks that you think would benefit from this.
Dr. Diana Hill:And there's no forcing.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:You don't have to be 100% ready to change.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:I think that's another reason people wait to, to seek help.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And so you can just have the idea of.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:That thing you want things to be different and that's enough to reach out.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:You can come in in a state of ambivalence.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:In fact, the majority of people do..
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:And that's what we work through with people.
Dr. Nicole Siegfried:When they come in this database, ambivalence that they may be
Dr. Diana Hill:Yeah, there's a whole therapy approach just to that
Dr. Diana Hill:So if you've got a good treatment center or a good therapists, they'll,
Dr. Diana Hill:Absolutely.
Dr. Diana Hill:Okay, Nicole.
Dr. Diana Hill:Well, thank you so much for spending time with us today.
Dr. Diana Hill:You're such a wealth of information and such a delight and, um, What a wonderful
Dr. Diana Hill:We need our family and we need each other.
Dr. Diana Hill:We need ourselves, we need our highest selves to get through this thing.
Dr. Diana Hill:And, we hope that this podcast is helpful to you.
Dr. Diana Hill:And if it is, please share it, please pass it along.
Dr. Diana Hill:In today's discussion with Nicole Siegfried.
Dr. Diana Hill:We talked a lot about internal barriers to seeking therapy, things
Dr. Diana Hill:And I want to say that there's awesome.
Dr. Diana Hill:A lot of external barriers to seeking therapy in terms of access to therapy,
Dr. Diana Hill:has been telemedicine and teletherapy, which has allowed more people to gain
Dr. Diana Hill:So it's not all bad news.
Dr. Diana Hill:Nicole and I also talked about characteristics of a good therapist,
Dr. Diana Hill:If you go down to this week's Daily Practice and click on that, you can
Dr. Diana Hill:includes things like psychological flexibility in a personal skills,
Dr. Diana Hill:You want a therapist that shows hopefulness and uses evidence-based
Dr. Diana Hill:And has a healthy amount of self-doubt.
Dr. Diana Hill:Nicole described some core processes and thriving that map onto the
Dr. Diana Hill:Areas that she talked about were mindful self-compassion, your ability to step
Dr. Diana Hill:Those are some of the key processes that Hayes and colleagues have found
Dr. Diana Hill:And then finally, we talked about how to find a higher
Dr. Diana Hill:And what are the different types of levels of care.
Dr. Diana Hill:For this week's homework, I want to take on a central theme of today's
Dr. Diana Hill:So here's what I want you to do.
Dr. Diana Hill:It's quite simple, but powerful.
Dr. Diana Hill:Number one, choose a problem that you could use some help with that maybe
Dr. Diana Hill:now, because you've been entangled in thoughts about needing to do it on your
Dr. Diana Hill:And I want you to practice some acceptance, practice, some mindful
Dr. Diana Hill:Talk to somebody about it.
Dr. Diana Hill:And then number two, reach out and offer help to somebody
Dr. Diana Hill:It can be in the form of a phone call, a walk, a meetup, but try to embody
Dr. Diana Hill:We can be good support systems to each other.
Dr. Diana Hill:We can practice our interpersonal skills, our awareness of our own
Dr. Diana Hill:And some degree of humility.
Dr. Diana Hill:Okay.
Dr. Diana Hill:So try out those two things this week.
Dr. Diana Hill:Let me know how it goes for you.
Dr. Diana Hill:I want to know.
Dr. Diana Hill:And remember that experience does not equal competence.
Dr. Diana Hill:So I need to know your feedback on what is helpful to you and what is not
Dr. Diana Hill:So send me your feedback at podcast@YourLifeinProcess.Com.
Dr. Diana Hill:Take care.
Dr. Diana Hill:Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Your Life in Process.
Dr. Diana Hill:When you enter your life in process, when you become psychologically
Dr. Diana Hill:If you like this episode or think it would be helpful to somebody, please leave
Dr. Diana Hill:have any questions, you can leave them for me by phone at (805) 457-2776 or by
Dr. Diana Hill:This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only.
Dr. Diana Hill:And it's not meant to be a substitute for mental health treatment.