5/31/2020 0 Comments Black mothers are fighting back against racism by taking control of their wellness & empowering other mothers to do the same.Like many of you, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about our world. It hurts me to my core to know that Black people continue to be seen as threats in our society. It hurts me to know that there never has been and may never be the appropriate amount of accountability and action taken for all the precious lives that have been lost. I hate feeling this way, but more importantly- I hate to see my community hurt in this way. Racial trauma is real. Inter-generational trauma is real. Collective trauma is happening. Each and every time we see one of our own murdered or hurting, it hurts us too because we are one people. No, we are not a monolith, but we are a collective group who’s identity and existence is deeply connected with one another. THAT is why this hurts so bad. THAT is why you feel so angry and exhausted. THAT is why it’s so hard to focus. In moments like this, I never want us to lose sight of the things that STILL matter. The world would lead us to believe that our lives don’t matter, but they still do. We absolutely must continue to pursue our goals, dreams, and passions. We must take really really good care of ourselves. We must continue to love and support each other the best we can. These things matter and they are forms of activism because it fights back against a system that would rather see us dead.
So, when was the last time you were able to truly work on and invest in your well-being? If you're a working mother, its possible that the answer is quite some time, or much longer than you'd like to admit. If that is the case, I have something I want you to consider.
In this program, you're guaranteed to:
This 6-Week Program includes:
Please don't underestimate the importance of pursuing your passions, taking care of yourself, and fiercely loving your family in times like this. These are forms of activism. Self-care is still a worthy and necessary form of political warfare. I look forward to connecting with you! Space is limited. |
-1 Free Initial Consultation -2 Balanced Working Mama Wellness Assessments (Pre & Post) -1-on-1 Weekly Check-ins w/ Dr. Amber Thornton -Small Group Weekly Session w/ 5 other EMPOWERED women All for $55/Week |
Space is limited.
Register now to learn more about this powerful program & to reserve your spot today!
"Do I need a Masters before getting my Doctorate in Psychology?"
But let’s talk it through...
So how do you know if you should consider a Masters or not? Here's what to consider:
You should consider SKIPPING the Masters if:
- You’re definitely certain you want to pursue the doctorate.
- You have a strong cumulative and major GPA from undergraduate.
- You have strong GRE scores.
- You have some relevant work or volunteer experiences.
In general, SKIP the Masters if your overall profile as a prospective applicant is STRONG (and if you’re not sure about whether your profile is strong or not, I recommend completing a PsyD Application Readiness Check- which assess your application readiness by determining the strength of your applicant profile).
Consider getting the Masters if:
- Your overall profile as an applicant isn’t strong.
- If your undergraduate major was anything OTHER than Psychology.
- If you aren’t 100% certain that you want to pursue the doctorate.
In general, a Masters before your Doctorate in Psychology can help demonstrate your readiness for graduate level work if you didn’t do well in undergraduate. It can also help you become more certain about your desire to be in this field.
Need help navigating the PsyD application process?
The process of becoming a clinical psychologist is not a simple one. With the right support, becoming a clinical psychologist is very possible and will be extremely valuable for you and your community. Let me support you in your process of seeking your Doctorate of Clinical Psychology (PsyD) degree. Learn more about Become A Psychologist services here. |
3/17/2020 0 Comments
Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19 & Social Distancing: Things You Should Know
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For most people, the idea of isolating yourself for any reason can lead to fear, anxiety, sadness, and many other uncomfortable emotional experiences. This is likely to feel even worse if you already have a mental health concern. This coupled with the reality of a global pandemic is enough to push any mental health condition into overdrive.
While you can not change the reality of what is happening around the globe with COVID-19, you can take steps to ensure that you protect and maintain your mental health as much as possible. This will help to decrease the likelihood that a mental health concern will develop during this trying time, as well as protect from any existing mental health concerns from worsening. You are probably now familiar with the term social distancing, as it has been recommended on local, state, national, and global levels. This has led to some confusion and concerns about social isolation, which has been known to produce and aggravate mental health concerns. I highly recommend that we all continue to practice social distancing, in order to protect ourselves and those around us from contracting and spreading COVID-19. However, there are additional steps you should take to help protect and maintain your mental and emotional well-being. |
Continue to socialize from afar.
Bonus Tip: Schedule time for socializing just like you would any other work-related or important meeting. You may find that other tasks or priorities can easily fill up your time, so make socializing from afar a top priority by scheduling it into your day and week.
Take social media breaks seriously.
In efforts to socialize from afar, you may find that you are using social media more than usual. While social media is so useful in allowing you to communicate with people who are not nearby, it can also negatively impact emotional and mental well-being if not used properly. This is especially true while there is high fear and anxiety around the spread of COVID-19. This means you need to learn how to use social media in a healthy manner.
I highly recommend that you take breaks throughout the day from social media. This will help ensure that you’re able to take time away from the mounting fear and anxiety that is often projected onto the internet via social media. Similarly, play around with filtering your social media feed to minimize anxiety-provoking information, and increase content that feels peaceful, helpful, or puts your mind at ease. It's good to stay informed but you do not have to become inundated. Bonus Tip: Take a few minutes today to follow 3-5 new accounts that offer some calm, peace, reassurance, or fun. It's important to have a good balance within your social media feeds and following these new social media accounts can help. |
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Keep a set schedule and routine.
Therefore, I highly recommend that you determine what your new schedule and routine will look like. It's possible that this will be different than what you’re used to because you may now be working from home or spending much less time outside of work or home. Therefore, take the time you need to ensure that your new schedule and routine is reasonable, realistic, and adaptable to future changes that may come.
Bonus Tip: When you figure out the schedule and routine that will work for you, make it visual and tangible! The schedule and routine you create will be much more effective if you write it down, print it out, post it, or put it up somewhere. Make sure that your schedule is visible for you to see so that you are more likely to stay on track.
Practice healthy self-talk.
One thing you must know is that healthy self-talk takes practice and something you should work on every single day. It's normal for this practice to feel awkward or forced at first, but the more you practice, the better and more natural it will feel.
Additionally, I want you to understand that positive self-talk is not always healthy self-talk. Therefore, as you practice self-talk, remember that it does not always need to be overly positive (which can sometimes feel invalidating). The goal is to practice healthy self-talk, self-talk that will support your mental and emotional well-being without invalidating your current reality or feelings.
Bonus Tip: If you are having trouble knowing what counts as healthy self-talk, try the following:
Remind yourself of what is going well in your life.
Remind yourself that current challenges will not last forever.
Ask yourself to recall a happy memory.
Tell yourself you are doing a good job.
Think of someone who inspires you.
Remind yourself of something you are proud of.
Don't neglect your basic self-care.
Crises, big changes, challenges, and other unexpected events may lead you to unintentionally forget about the basics. So remember:
Practice good hygiene everyday! Drink all your water. Eat regularly and consistently throughout the day. Make time to exercise. SLEEP. Get some fresh air. Generally, take extra good care of your body. Bonus Tip: Do you need some extra help with improving your overall self-care? If so, I recommend that you schedule a free Personal Development Consultation for more help. |
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Dr. Amber Thornton
Clinical Psychologist | Personal Development Consultant | Balanced Working Mama Coach | Speaker | Mental Health Expert
www.dramberthornton.com
www.balancedworkingmama.com
hello@dramberthornton.com
Being a mother has been one of the most rewarding parts of my life. I love spending time with my son. Watching him grow and learn has been amazing! Being a psychologist is the other most rewarding part of my life and it’s hard to imagine who I’d be without being able to help others. Being a working mother has allowed me to have so much compassion and empathy for the unique struggles of other mothers who passionately work and care for their children. We need support, guidance, validation, and the occasional “I see you sis!”
Here are a few strong Black women who are dedicated to creating space for Black working mothers.
Balanced Working Mama
Dr. Amber Thornton is a mama with expertise as a Clinical Psychologist and Personal Development Consultant. She is especially passionate about personal development and wellness for working mothers. “Being a working mother has allowed me to have so much compassion and empathy for the unique struggles of other mothers who passionately work and care for their children.”
Dr. Amber has been very candid about her experiences of motherhood as a working professional. Dr. Amber has created “Balanced Working Mama”- Coaching services and resources for working mothers in balancing work, motherhood, and demanding the support they deserve. |
Website: dramberthornton.com
IG: @dramberthornton
Let's Bloom Together
Ariel Smith is a mama of three who is committed to self-care for Black women. “Self care in its wholeness saved my life. I noticed that the beautiful roles of mother and wife consumed me to the point that I lost myself! As a result, I nearly lost everything! I see moms and wives around me, and beyond, get to that breaking point and I believe it’s totally preventable.”
Ariel is fully transparent in sharing the lessons she’s learned along the way to help other women bloom into their best selves. Ariel creates content related to self-care for Black women, offers coaching services, and hosts the “Let’s Bloom Together” podcast. |
Website: letsbloomtogether.org
IG: @bloomwithari
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Mom2Mogul
Jasmine is incredible at highlighting “what it takes to be a boss in the boardroom and at home.” She is popular on Instagram, YouTube, and has recently launched the Mom2Mogul course for working mothers who are ready to devote to their online businesses full-time.
Website: jasminechanelle.com
IG: @_jasminechanelle
Bloom Life Coaching
Alece Coleman is a mama who is dedicated to creating healing spaces and opportunities for Black women. Alece is also transparent about her own journey toward healing. “Not only was I sent to do this work but I was COMMANDED to do the work right alongside you as well.”
Alece is a Black Women’s Wellness Facilitator and a Licensed Psychotherapist. She is currently offering a Free Self Love Guide for those in need of activating self love and beginning the healing process. |
Website: coachingatbloom.com
IG: @healatbloom
Real Moms Too Podcast
Alana Parks and Xia Chekwa are two mamas who are passionate about discussing the stories of Real Mom Life. “The podcast for the mom who is looking to connect with other Relatable, Empathetic, Authentic, Liberated Moms, and where we keep it Real!”
Alana and Xia embrace and connect with their “Virtual Mom Village” weekly with episodes that can be found on all major podcast streaming apps. |
IG: @realmomstoo
Pass it on!
Don't forget to share it with another amazing working mama.
We see you, sis!
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So how do we make the very best of our busy schedules? Here are three things you should do.
Take Inventory Of Your Time
Discontinue The Things That Don’t Matter
If you’re having trouble deciding what should be discontinued, really ask yourself this question: “What are my goals and priorities right now?”
Ideally, the things you spend the most time on should align well with your goals and priorities.
Prioritize The Things That Do Matter
To book your personal development consultation or talk more with Dr. Amber Thornton about personal development, book your FREE 15 minute consultation here.
1/29/2020 0 Comments
How to Break Bad Habits
We all have “bad habits” or habits that don’t serve us well. Maybe they are unhealthy or they might limit your productivity. Your bad habit might even interfere with your personal growth or performance in some way. If you’re noticing that you have a habit that does any of those things, it may be time to break it.
Breaking a bad habit is very similar to building new habits, except in reverse. As we know, building a new habit involves removing barriers, obstacles, and friction. However, in breaking bad habits, we need to do the exact opposite. That means placing barriers, obstacles, and friction in between you and the habit you are hoping to break. This small act then makes it more difficult to engage in the habit you are trying to break.
Like many of you, I too have had several habits that I’ve needed to break. Most recently, I’ve developed a habit of eating too many of my absolute favorite dessert treats at the end of my day. Once I realized this was becoming a problem, I decided that instead of eating 2-3 of these per night, I’d rather limit it to one. What I decided to do was remove my desserts from the freezer in my kitchen and place them all in the freezer in my basement. What this did was place a barrier between myself and the desserts, and as a result it decreased the likelihood of myself making a second or third trip to the basement for more.
Here’s another example. Maybe you have a habit of hitting “snooze” in the morning when your alarm goes off. You set your alarm for 6am, hit snooze one too many times, and before you know it- it's 7am. How can you break this habit? Think of ways to put more barriers, obstacles, and friction between you and the snooze button. This might mean removing your alarm from within arm’s reach and moving it further away, i.e. across the room or in a different room completely. This would place a barrier, obstacle, or friction between you and the habit you want to break.
To book your personal development consultation or talk more with Dr. Amber Thornton about personal development, book your FREE 15 minute consultation here.
1/28/2020 0 Comments
Forming New Habits, Pt. 2
Rewards
For example, if you want to create a habit of drinking more water and you plan to reward yourself at the end of the month for meeting your water goals, the likelihood of you meeting this goal is low. This is because you are forcing yourself to wait an entire month to experience the rewards of all your hard work. Instead, I would recommend that you reward yourself more frequently. Ideally, the reward should be small, frequent, yet enticing enough to keep you motivated and encouraged about your new habit.
Temptation Bundling
Another example: If you want to develop a new habit of exercising and you know that you love listening to a particular podcast, that means that when you exercise, you will be able to treat yourself by listening to your favorite podcast. However, you are only allowed to listen to the podcast while exercise.
Temptation bundling takes a bit of self-discipline, however it is extremely effective and will definitely help you to form and strengthen that new habit.
To book your personal development consultation or talk more with Dr. Amber Thornton about personal development, book your FREE 15 minute consultation here.
1/5/2020 0 Comments
Forming New Habits, Pt. 1
The thing about habits is that they are very automatic and unconscious. We generally don’t think much when we are engaging in our most solidified habits, which is why it has very little to do with willpower. That is the goals when forming new habits. We want this behavior to become automatic and unconscious, and there are many researched based strategies that can help us achieve this. This article will talk about two strategies that will help you form a new habit.
Remove Barriers and Obstacles
For example, if you want to form a habit of going to the gym more frequently, you should choose a gym that is 1 mile away from your house instead of the gym that is 10 miles away. This is because it is easier to get to the closest gym. In this scenario, time and distance are barriers and we want to eliminate them as much as possible.
Another example- If you want to form a habit of drinking more water, you need to make sure you have a water bottle readily available to you at all times. You shouldn’t leave your water bottle downstairs or in a different room. Keeping the bottle or other means of accessing water nearby makes it easier to actually consume the water and removes any barriers related to inaccessibility to water.
Repetition Is Key
To book your personal development consultation or talk more with Dr. Amber Thornton about personal development, book your FREE 15 minute consultation here.
12/23/2019 0 Comments
The Best & Worst Ways to Manage Stress
Whenever I’m working with therapy clients or personal development consultation clients, the one thing that always comes up is “how can I better manage my stress?” The reason that it seems to be such a popular topic is because we all have stress. We all feel busy, we are all taking care of our families, or we are working hard on our jobs. Hence, stress is inevitable but the real issue is that we don’t always know the best ways to manage that stress.
Here are three of the most common ways to manage stress, starting with the least effective to most effective.
Damage Control
In-The-Moment
Preventative & Proactive
In life, we are going to experience stress no matter how good things may feel. Yet, if we can be preventative and proactive in our approach to manage stress, we will see the very best outcomes when it comes to our personal well-being and development.
To book your personal development consultation or talk more with Dr. Amber Thornton about personal development, book your FREE 15 minute consultation here.
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Dr. Amber Thornton
Clinical Psychologist | Personal Development Consultant | Balanced Working Mama Coach | Speaker | Mental Health Expert
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