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What and Why of REACT

What is REACT? As a counseling intern, I saw clients for individual therapy in agency and school setting, and had some exposure to couples and family therapy. After doing X number of progress notes in soap format, I began to notice common themes and patterns cropping up in what was said in session and my assessments of clients. Clients would present with challenging emotions and connected to these emotions would be patterns of negative thinking such as self-defeating thoughts and thoughts of resentment. And, at least in my limited experience, I found that the process of change would be activated when a client could reflect on their thoughts in an objective rather than emotionally-driven way. At least for all my clients, the thought patterns always boiled down to the common themes of: Respect, Empathy, Acceptance, Courage, Trust, and a client’s capacity in these areas. Respect: how much do we respect ourselves and others? Having self-respect is recognizing that we have value/wor...
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REACT 2.0

The REACT approach to responding to mental health challenges Premises 1. when it comes to mental and emotional challenges, what leads to positive outcomes is thought that grounds us in reality, and an openness to dialogue. 2.  modern psychology underlying mainstream mental health education is flawed in that it promotes self-absorption and assumes too much can be actualized by self. It is unrealistic. It is antithetical to Catholic anthropology.   3.   "Modern Psychology and Catholic Understanding"   https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/modern-psychology-and-catholic-understanding-part-1.html 4.  Our capacity to be aware of emotions and understanding how emotions influence our thought and behavior is a key component of our mental health. The film Inside Out is helpful in naming emotions and promotion awareness of emotional responses. However, it promotes a view of emotions having agency and our challenges as resolving the...
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Session 14: Tasks of Grief

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  Grief is a process of healing from loss : Be open to feeling what we feel rather than trying to shut out our feelings.   Being open to feeling what we feel is an exercise of self- empathy and putting our lesson on Feelings 101 into practice . When we try to shut out your feelings, they don't necessarily go away and we merely are prolonging our pain when we do this. Accept what is within our control and what is not in our control. Acceptance is not about "moving on." It is about acknowledging that the loss has occurred, acknowledging what is beyond our control. Adapt to reality, make necessary adjustments to manage day-to-day life. Adapting is not about "moving on."  Adapting is about making sure the bills are being paid on time, dinner is on the table, dishes are being washed, bathrooms are being cleaned, and having the courage to ask for help with getting things done, and help with self-care . Remember / Memorialize / Honor who or what was lost. This ...
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REACT

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REACT As Assessment How are we to have a constructive conversation about our mental health? To put this in context - we are so adept in having constructive conversations about our physical health in describing our physical pain as to where it is located and what we feel when the pain is agitated, the frequency of such, the intensity of the distress. Yet, when speaking of mental health , self-assessment, and the assessment of others, far too often takes on a different tack and an altogether different dimension, which is that of diagnosis – for example, “I’m feeling paranoid,” “I’m depressed,” “I’m having anxiety,” “he’s being OCD,” “he’s being bipolar”. Conversations about mental health somehow oftentimes takes on clinical language, packed with presumption, yet lacking in precision and relatability. It could be a helpful starting point, but only if the conversation goes anywhere beyond labeling and nomenclature. A simple way to define mental health is to say it's pretty much...
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REACT mini journal

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Uses of mini-journal 1. mindfulness 2. creating space for self- and social- awareness 3. providing context for dialogue with others including Christ
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Session 13: Grief / Seasons of Life

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Objectives: 1. Discuss different types of loss (death, breakup, change of circumstances that could be difficult to reconcile such as being graduated from middle school heading to high school where you don't know anyone). Or, mundane/everyday experiences of frustration when losing a key, a wallet, or a cell phone. Discuss the different feelings and thoughts connected with these experiences. 2. Describe the emotional experience of grief as a knot of various emotions and can manifest as a mental health challenge (see below for reference to the "madness" of King George III). We can imagine the mix of tender and intense feelings coming in waves. However, the specific feelings can manifest differently for you than it does for others. We should not presume we know what someone is going through. It is especially important to practice empathy for those we know who have experienced loss. 3. Describe grief as a process of healing from a loss. If feelings of grief are shut out, heal...
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Session 12: week of MLK Jr. holiday - Reflections in memory of Dr. King

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 Activities: 1. Bring snacks 2. Reflect on how principles of REACT ( R, E, A, C, T ) can inform and guide our civic responsibility to be respectful to one another despite our differences and have the courage to do the right thing. 3. Review our lesson on human dignity . 4. Give special emphasis to courage . Photo source: TIME Magazine
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