Behavioral Activation (CBT) – Maintaining Good Mental Hygiene

Behavioral Activation (CBT) – Maintaining Good Mental Hygiene

Behavioral activation is a great strategy both for improving mood, AND maintaining well-being.

So what is behavioral activation? It’s about ensuring that you stay active in your day to day in a way that supports your mental well-being.

Here are two things to keep in mind when thinking about doing behavioral activation:

1) Find a balance between enjoyable activities and activities that give you a sense of accomplishment.
2) Action precedes motivation. You might be saying to yourself – this all sounds good, but I don’t have any energy for this right now. I’ll give this a try when I feel motivated again.

The trick though, is that motivation does not always precede action. In fact, on the contrary, action most often needs to come before motivation. That is to say, we need to first get going, to start feeling motivated again. Once we get that ball rolling, it becomes easier and easier to activate.
Watch this video to learn how use behavioral activation as a tool for practicing good mental hygiene.
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Mental Hygiene is a form of preventative maintenance, and the concept of doing small things daily that support our mental health. We know that we should shower, brush our teeth, and get a good night’s sleep daily to stay on top of our physical and dental hygiene, but there’s currently no guidance around daily maintenance of our brains.

By committing to spending as little as 10 minutes per day on mental hygiene practices, research shows that they can have a significant impact on improving your overall wellness. One of these practices is positive psychology.

Learn more about mental hygiene at https://www.theroyal.ca/mental_hygiene.