Corrections_Today_November_December_2023_Vol.85_No.6

OFFICE OF CORRECTIONAL HEALTH

ASK THE DOC

Power over discouragement

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By Dr. Dean Aufderheide

Q:

Dear Dr. Dean,

My agency is rolling out a new staff wellness program and wants all the staff to get involved

lives. I remember from my seminary days a story one of our professors told us about the devil auction ing off his tools. He put a high

But we can have power over discouragement. The good news is that you have succeeded in taking the first step in overcoming discourage ment, which is acknowledging it to yourself. Here are three things you can do to help gain power over dis couragement and develop a wellness plan that will work for you. 1. Change the way you think about what success looks like in a wellness program It’s not an all or nothing proposi tion. Create a wellness plan by taking the parts of the wellness program that work for you and that you can accomplish. Small successes are self reinforcing and will help you achieve your overall wellness goals. Avoid questions like, “Why am I having such a hard time?” or, “Why does this always happen to me?” Instead, try, “What just happened, and what can I take away from this?” When you change the way you think about

with it. I work in a segregation unit, which can be pretty stressful. I have tried doing wellness plans in the past, but I don’t stick with it and end up just quit ting. I know it would be good for me and my family, but I’m feeling like I don’t want to get involved because I’ll just fail again. What’s your advice? — T.S. in Virginia

price on pride, laziness, ar rogance, hate, envy, and jeal ousy. But there was one very old and worn-out tool labeled “Not For Sale.” Someone said, “What is that tool and why isn’t it for sale?” “Discouragement,” an swered the devil. “It is not for sale because it is the tool I use the most on people. When they hit obstacles in life, they get discouraged, blame themselves and lose hope.”

A:

Thank you for the ques tion, T.S. It sounds like you are experiencing “discouragement”, which

is a feeling that you no longer have the confidence or enthusiasm to do something. It is the voice in our head saying, “ You can’t do this.” You are going to fail” “There is no shame in quitting”. Then we accept that what ever it was we were working toward simply wasn’t meant to be. We are all vulnerable to feeling discouraged about things in our

We are all vulnerable to feeling discouraged about things in our lives.

72 — November/December 2023 Corrections Today