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Mental health counseling with Empower Counseling in Birmingham, Alabama.

At Empower Counseling, we assess and pay attention to your complete wellbeing.

Your Physical and Mental Well-Being encompass complete well-being. You can address specific aspects of your physical and mental well-being separately, but the two are inextricably intertwined. What I mean is you should not treat your physical and mental well-being as two completely separate parts of yourself. Much of what you do affects both dimensions of your overall health, just as your physical and psychological well-being affect each other.

Here are a few areas we examine inaddition to your thougths and your symtpoms.

I. Physical Health: Checks ups with doctors, bloodwork, and medications

Schedule physicals and check-ups at least once a year. If you are struggling mentally, you might be low on vitamins necessary for overall wellbeing.  Specific vitamin levels to check if you are struggling with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and fatigue.

Vitamin D

If you do not have enough vitamin D you can experience muscle weakness, pain, fatigue and depression.`

B12

If you do not have a sufficient amount of B12 you may experience:

Weakness, tiredness, or lightheadedness

Heart palpitations and shortness of breath

Pale skin

Loss of appetite,

Nerve problems like numbness or tingling, muscle weakness, and problems walking

Vision loss

Depression, memory loss.

Once again, consult your doctor about vitamin supplementation and amounts needed. Some vitamins are water soluble and some vitamins are fat soluble.

A physical exam including complete blood work with a General or Internal Medicine doctor is helpful, even if you are feeling good physically. It is useful to know what your bloodwork looks like when you are perfectly healthy so that if you have issues, you will have something to compare.

How to interact with your doctor during your physical check-up: 

•            Be honest with your doctor about your daily habits. He or she is only as good as the information you provide. 

•            Be your own best advocate for your physical well-being. If you think something is wrong, speak up and make sure you are heard. While at your appointment, ask questions about physical and mental health symptoms that have been concerning you. Mention everything that is not normal for you.  They call it the practice of medicine for a reason. Doctors are experts but they do not know it all. And you are the expert on what is normal or abnormal for you. Speak up!

Make sure you ask the following questions, as well:

•            Are there any restrictions on my activity based on my health?

•            Are there any restrictions or guidelines I should follow with my diet?

Based on my bloodwork (and my requested blood tests), would I benefit from any vitamin supplements?

•            Is there anything I should be doing as a preventative measure to ensure good health based on my level of activity?

•            Is there anything I should do differently to ensure better physical or overall health?

II. Nutrition: Mental health counseling with empower counseling in Birmingham, Alabama

The types and amount of foods and liquids you put into your body significantly affect your overall health. (It is especially difficult for college students to go from someone else, parent or caregiver, buying, cooking and supplying a healthy diet to having to do so on their own.) It can also be a challenge to find enough healthy food on a college campus to meet your individual needs.

Planning a healthy diet actually begins with your yearly check-up. If you have had the recommended blood work, you will know if you need to make any changes to your diet so that you meet your nutritional needs.

If you want your mind and body to be at their best for you, you must feed it properly.

If you are a vegetarian or vegan, it is especially important you what to eat to get protein and iron in your diet.

Planning meals in advance helps you stay on track and avoid last-minute processed food from a fast-food chain, or other restaurants.

III. Sleep: Another component of overall mental health and wellbeing

Your sleep schedule: Experts in sleep have determined it is important to  keep a routine sleep schedule, meaning, go to bed about the same time nightly and wake up about the same time daily. Experts have found that waking up at the same time daily is even more important that going to be at the same time.

Scientific research shows sleep powers the mind, restores the body, and fortifies each and every system of the body.

Experts believe that young adults ages 18-25 years old need 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Even if your body is done growing, the human mind is not fully developed until about age 25. Your brain’s executive function, the decision making part of the frontal lobe, is still developing.

Mental Health Counseling with Empower Counseling in Bimringham, Alabama

At Empower Counseling we understand that your mental and physical wellbeing are intertwined. When one is area is not well, it affects all areas of your life. We examine your complete wellbeing in our approach to helping you achieve strong mental wellbeing.

Our team, Kathryn, Adam, and Kristine use Acceptance Commitment Therapy for anxiety counseling and depression counseling. At Empower Counseling we offer counseling for teens, therapy for college students, counseling for young adults, and counseling for professionals. We offer in person and online counseling 6 days a week, including Satursdays and some evenings.

Reach out to Empower Counseling for help today 205-730-6570

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