As we enter into the holiday season, we start with Thanksgiving — a time where families and friends typically gather together to reflect upon and share what they are grateful for. This season looks very different than it has in the past. We are living through an ongoing global pandemic, the highlighting of racial injustices and, just this week, a stressful presidential election. In the midst of all of this, how do we find our gratitude?
This month, The Guidance Center is launching a series called, “Thankful for You” where we will be featuring blog posts that focus on thankfulness and answer that very question.
Highlighting thankfulness and gratitude is important to us because it directly connects to the work we do with our clients. Our clients are encouraged to practice gratitude to help them heal from past trauma and cope with ongoing hardships. According to Robert A. Emmons, PhD, a leading scientific expert on the science of practicing gratitude, this therapeutic process is life changing. “Gratitude blocks toxic emotions, such as envy, resentment, regret and depression, which can destroy our happiness,” said Dr. Emmons.
We often see the impact practicing gratitude has for clients and their families. For example, our Public Safety Clinician, Melissa Mojica, LMFT, encourages clients to identify at least one thing they are grateful for each day. This daily exercise helps Melissa’s clients gain optimism and hope for their lives.
We are also excited about dedicating this month to giving thanks because there are a lot of people we appreciate, and we want to acknowledge what they for our agency and the clients and families we serve. Thank you to…
Our Clients — for trusting us
Our Donors — for supporting our mission
Our Staff — for showing up for children in need
We’re excited to share more with you about gratitude and kindness this month, stay tuned!
Resources:
UC Davis Health, & Public Affairs and Marketing. Gratitude is good medicine. Retrieved from https://health.ucdavis.edu/medicalcenter/features/2015-2016/11/20151125_gratitude.html