Blog

It’s Mental Health Awareness Month

by arnaha

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which is timely for one in five adults who are living with mental illness worldwide. Whether you are impacted by mental illness, or you know someone who is, we have a few tips to help make sure that your mental health is a top priority.

Take Care of Your Body

Mental health is not just mental. Eating healthy, getting enough sleep and moving around can help reduce depression and anxiety. As little as 15-30 minutes of exercise three days a week can have a tremendous effect on your mental health. It is even possible that exercise can help keep symptoms from coming back after you start feeling better. Exercise releases feel-good endorphins, distracts your mind from negative thinking patterns and helps you cope with negative thoughts in a healthy way.

Take Care of Your Mind

Speaking of thinking patterns, there is also evidence showing that a few minutes of mindful meditation each day can improve your mental health. You don’t have to sit in complete silence for hours – just spend a couple of minutes each day closing your eyes and take a few deep breaths.

Look Out for Warning Signs

images-1.jpgIf you find yourself feeling sad for no reason, or experience excessive anger, it may be time to reach out for help. Symptoms of mental health difficulties also include feeling tired all the time, extreme changes in mood or appetite, or withdrawing from friends and family. Stay in tune with yourself so that you can identify these warning signs.

Reach Out for Help

There is no shame in asking for help. There’s often a stigma that surrounds therapy and treatment for mental health difficulties. Therapy can provide you with helpful techniques to work through feelings of anger or depression, and assure that your thought patterns remain positive. If you’re still unsure, ask someone you trust to walk with you through the process.

Stay Connected

Finally, make sure that you have a few close friends or family members who can check in with you on a regular basis. Building relationships can help fight negative thoughts and behaviour. Mental Health Awareness Month is the perfect time to connect and assure each other that we are not alone in our struggles.

What’s the difference between Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology and Counselling?

by arnaha

Having studied and been around the subject of psychology for a while now, the most common question asked besides ‘can you read my mind’, is to know the difference between Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology.

The simple answer is, psychiatrists are trained medical doctors, and prescribe medications. They spend much of their time on medication management and a course of treatment.Their education experience is in medicine, and their residencies have primarily been in psychiatric units in hospitals treating patients with severe mental health difficulties.

Clinical Psychologists on the other hand focus extensively on psychotherapy and 0f7f6e9bf1fc079d9ae96f3f81482a77_therapy-clipart-clinical-psychologist-picture-2125739-therapy-_668-744.pngtreating emotional and mental suffering in patients with talking therapies and behavioural interventions. They are also qualified to conduct psychological testing, which is critical in assessing a person’s mental state and determine the most effective treatment. Psychologists have to study and specialise for their career up to graduate school, learning how to diagnose and formulate mental and emotional difficulties in people, along with internships of 1-3 years under supervision. There are several types of therapies according to different orientations within Clinical Psychology such as Cognitive behavioural Therapy, Humanistic Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy etc. 

Clinical psychology is similar to Counselling psychology. The main difference is that clinical psychologists normally treat patients who suffer from more serious disorders than counselling psychologists do. 

When seeking help for your difficulties, it is important that you understand these differences, find out about their effectiveness, side effects, consequences, process etc.. and make an informed choice as to which path would best suit your journey to recovery.

About us

by arnaha

Arnaha Center for Wellbeing offers the highest quality psychological interventions and practical support for people experiencing a wide range of common mental health problems. We provide evidence-based interventions to individuals, young people and groups of all ages, and backgrounds.

Here at Arnaha, our trained therapists can help with a full range of psychological difficulties including depression, low mood, self-esteem,stress, anxiety, anger, OCD, phobias, worry, emotional crises and adjustments, and bereavement. We also offer psychological support that go beyond working with distress, to promote positive psychology, by building resilience, improving self-esteem and encouraging self-awareness and building confidence.

 

Therapists

Kavitha AmaratungaIMG_2956

MBPsS  MSc  BSc

Kavitha Amaratunga is a Clinical Psychologist and researcher providing therapy for individuals, families and small groups in a wide range of areas pertaining to mental health in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

She has completed her BSc in Psychology from the University of Hertfordshire, and her MSc in Mindfulness, neuroscience and Clinical Applications from Kings College, London, in the UK, and is currently completing her PhD in Psychology. She is also a published researcher.

She has worked with the National Health Service of the UK where she trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Systemic Therapy for adults, young people and their families, within the wellbeing service and the child and adolescent mental health services. Her specialities include the areas of anxiety, self-esteem and depression.

In addition to her therapy work, she also runs workshops on boosting self-esteem, stress management, and mental health awareness programs.