Hello!
This is one of my favorite newsletters! Check out some ideas for holiday games to play with your family and tips for handling all of the emotions the holiday season seems to intensify. Plus, ideas for supporting loved ones with eating challenges and so much more!!
I am hopeful that you take some time to care for yourself in the same way that you care for others this holiday season. Happy New Year!
All my best,
Dr. Pam McCaskill
734-416-9098
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McCaskill Family Services Newsletter
Term: Winter| Issue 24| December 22nd, 2021
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Eating During the Holidays |
The holidays are about togetherness, celebration, and let's be honest.. food!
Food acts as a symbol for many purposes; it can symbolize culture, tradition, unity, comfort, celebration, wealth, and love.
For example: The smell of grandma's cinnamon Christmas bread can provide us with a sense of nostalgia; when we bake cookies for our coworkers, we are telling them that we appreciate them; eating at the dinner table may be the only time we get to spend with our families during busy week days. Food is powerful.
For some, however, who are struggling with eating difficulties, food can symbolize something very different: anxiety, guilt, self-hatred, jealousy, and isolation (to name a few). It can be hard to know what to say to someone who's recovering from an eating disorder, especially when much conversation is about food during holiday gatherings, "Those potatoes were so good! I'm going to have another helping" or "What should we make for dessert this year? " Without knowing it, we could be accidentally triggering someone who is working hard at recovery.
Kristie Wyler, MS, TLLP, who specializes in working with those struggling with eating difficulties has 6 suggestions for helping you support your loved ones during the holiday season. #2? Skip the Labels. Click the link below for more helpful tips!
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At McCaskill Family Services, we specialize in working with children and adults who are struggling with all kinds of presenting mental health issues. If your family or someone you know could benefit from our services, please contact us. Our clinicians are trained and experienced in empirically-based techniques, and would be happy to promptly schedule an appointment in person or via tele-health. We can be reached by phone at 734-416-9098 or by email at office@mccaskillfamilyservices.com.
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Christmas Games For Family Fun |
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Kristie Wyler is new to our McCaskill Family! She earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the Michigan School of Psychology. Kristie specializes in eating disorders, body image, self-esteem, anxiety, adjustment concerns, trauma and interpersonal struggles.
As a former dance teacher and studio director, Kristie has over 10 years of experience working with kids, teens and families. With her strong humanistic background and numerous evidence-based treatments including Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and mindfulness-based interventions, Kristie is able to evaluate each client where they are and personalize treatment to their specific goals and needs.
Additionally, Kristie is a member of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, and in 2021 earned her designation of Associate, (iaedp) with the Institute on Eating Disorders.
Kristie is an avid traveler and has been to 6 continents, she loves any occasion that calls for dressing up, dessert, Broadway shows, U of M, fun shoes, and snuggling sweet animal faces.
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Pros and Cons of Telepsychology |
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McCaskill Family Services', Dr. Michelle Byrd, via Discourse magazine, discusses the pros and cons of telepsychology and how COVID-19 has impacted the world of psychotherapy.
Is it as effective? Is it confidential? Will it work for me? Dr. Byrd answers all of these questions and more in her interview. Click Below To Read!
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The McCaskill family wishes you a happy, healthy, & relaxing holiday season.
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Newsletter Editor's Notes |
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Working Through To Find Healing
"I wish I had a river I could skate away on..."
Sound familiar? This nontraditional Christmas song is about a woman who has lost someone she loves and is longing to escape the pain associated with these broken emotional bonds. She talks about skating away with the hopes that she could go far enough to no longer feel her grief, "I wish I had a river so long, I could teach my feet to fly." It's a beautiful sentiment to think that we could just walk away from pain, but if you have ever experienced grief, heartbreak, depression, self-doubt, addiction, or any type of mental illness, you know that it's not that easy. I really wish it was, and sometimes it feels even more difficult during the holidays.
In therapy, I teach my patients that certain distractions can be healthy coping mechanisms. Distraction allows us "psychological distance" from our stressor, providing us with an opportunity to let the more logical parts of our brain turn back on as we become less emotional, and can re-approach our stressor with a different mindset. However, sometimes people use this coping skill too often, avoiding the situation, pain, or feeling that needs to be worked through. There is a big difference between distraction and avoidance.
All emotions ever want, regardless of how big or small, are to be acknowledged. This means that sometimes we have to sit with that feeling: the uncomfortable, the distressing, the confusing, and feel it, think about, be with it. THEE moment that we resist abandoning the feeling, THEE moment when we say "no" to an unhealthy coping mechanism, is THEE moment when the real work occurs in the healing process. Change cannot occur if you do not stay in the moment and allow for your feeling to shift.
"The moment you want to cut and run, hide, avoid, shut down -that's the moment you sit and stay. The change you want happens when you stay." -Sasha Tozzi.
It isn't easy tolerating this type of distress, but avoidance, or neglecting to do the necessary psychological work just makes the pain last longer. If you practice sitting with your emotion, you will find the strength to work through it, finding something different on the other side. Mindfulness teaches us that we can acknowledge an emotion without having a reaction to it. You do not need a Christmas miracle, you do not need a long river, or even a new pair of skates to heal. All you need is the moment. String a few of those moments together, and you'll be on your way to singing a much different Christmas Song.
Happy Healing. -Jaclyn
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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I'm Jaclyn, a masters level clinician at McCaskill Family Services who specializes in the treatment of OCD, anxiety, self-harm, and eating disorders for all ages. I co-run the McCaskill Family Services DBT groups for teens and adults, and specialize in psychological assessment. I am also our monthly newsletter editor and social media manager!
I'd like to personally thank you for staying in touch with our practice, and hope you find this newsletter inspirational and informative. If you or someone you know would like to schedule an appointment with me, please contact our office at 734-416-9098 or email us at office@mccaskillfamilyservices.com. I look forward to working with you!
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409 Plymouth Road, Suite 250, Plymouth, MI 48170 • 734.416.9098
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