​One of the first things I do with each client I work with is help them identify their values.
 
Values are different than goals. They are the qualities that we live by in life. While goals are helpful to have (in therapy and in life), values are flexible and help us adapt to obstacles and setbacks along the way while still feeling like we are living a full and meaningful life.

​You sit down for your weekly session with your therapist. You take a deep breath and start to check in about your week, go over your between session therapy assignments, and shed some tears and some laughter for an hour. Feeling lighter, you thank your therapist and tell her you’ll see her next week. Then you close your laptop and get up from your sofa to make yourself a sandwich.
 
Wait, what?
 
That’s right. You just saw your therapist while sitting in your living room.

Oh, technology. It’s no secret that all the technological advances we’ve seen in our lifetime have taken a toll on our overall wellbeing. We are constantly distracted, addicted to games and social media, and feeling more and more disconnected in our lives. And yet, technology is here, and smart phones aren’t going anywhere. But this isn’t necessarily bad news.

The thing is, if we use our phones wisely, technology can actually be a huge asset to us.

For a long time I’ve been passionate about mindfully exploring the role technology can play in improving our mental health. For example, here in San Francisco, the first mental health hackathon recently took place, and I was honored to be there as a consultant to assist teams of brilliant designers manifest tech-based solutions to solve some of the most pressing mental health challenges facing society today (See here for more about the event and one of the teams I worked with that day).

One area where you can find some great mental health tools is in mobile apps. I use apps with my clients all the time, and it has been a game changer. Long gone are the caveman days where the only option was pen and paper worksheets and handouts that easily get lost in a notebook or under a stack of mail. My clients find using apps is a great way to stay engaged on their goals between sessions, and it gives me more real time data so we can make strides in our work together faster and more efficiently. Here are three apps that you can integrate into your psychotherapy that will level up your experience in the chair:

​“An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.”  -Viktor Frankl
 
As a therapist who specializes in helping individuals heal from trauma and PTSD, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard a client say something like, “I feel like I’m going crazy” or “Why can’t I just get over this? What is wrong with me?”

“So, I’m your depression. I’m that lost 'what the heck is the meaning of life' feeling we’ve been talking about."

A long, hesitant pause. “Okay.”

“Okay. So imagine there is a big hole between us - a big, endless void. And we’re on either side of it, in a tug of war.” I tug my end of the small rope I had handed to her earlier, when she signed on to try something a little different in therapy today. “It’s been going on as long as you can remember. This sadness pulls you in like a magnet. It’s pulling and pulling.” I keep gently tugging on the rope. “You’re exhausted, of course. Who wouldn’t be? So here you are, and you are tugging back, trying to gain the upper ground.” 

What would you do if your hand touched a hot stove?
 
That is not a trick question. We all pull away. It’s biologically engrained into us that we should avoid pain. And this is not a bad thing! Avoiding pain is a matter of survival. If you did not pull instinctively away from the hot stove, I think we can all agree you would be in a whole world of trouble.
 
Here’s the thing. We pull away from the hot stoves in our mind the same way. Our brain is efficient and wants to avoid pain; it doesn’t differentiate between emotional pain and physical pain. What is your inner hot stove? The looming deadline. The memory of a traumatic event that revisits you when you least expect it. The plane or spider or whatever else sends shivers down your spine or sends your heartbeat through the roof. The interesting person we keep running into that we fear will reject us if we approach them. To our primal sense of survival, it’s all a hot stove.