By Jasmine Payne, HMT Resident in Counseling
Social media and technology are intertwined in our day-to-day lives. Many of us have built up profiles, sent and accepted hundreds of friend requests, and followed various pages over the last several years. When was the last time you checked in on all those platforms and cleansed the things that don’t serve you anymore?
Think about it. You have changed as a person over the last year. You have grown, developed new ideas and opinions, disproved previous thought patterns, made new friends, and drifted from old acquaintances. Some of the popular pages or celebrities you followed in 2010 may be in line with the ideals you hold to be true now.
It will take some effort to pull up those friend and follow lists and examine what content you are absorbing. Just as we periodically go through our closets, we must go through our social media feeds. If our feed is filled with toxic people, celebrities attempting to uphold unrealistic/photoshopped standards, or filler accounts that don’t offer anything of substance… think about how that impacts your mentality. If you are only seeing images that are altered, reality loses its appeal.
Step 1 is to identify and unfollow those accounts.
Step 2 is to switch them out.
Follow accounts that show you real life and unfiltered images. Follow inspirational people. Find profiles about things you are interested in and passionate about. Look up accounts that post inspirational, feel-good messages and celebrities that are working to make the world a better place.
You may not notice the toll it takes on your mentality as you scroll through these websites and apps, but if you make these changes in two simple steps you will notice a mindset shift. A relief that not everything has to be perfect all the time. For the most part, social media is a highlight reel or marketing scheme. Take the time to follow accounts that show you the ups as well as the downs of this life. Don’t believe anyone’s account that makes life, love, or family seem effortlessly beautiful because it is not real.
You are what you eat applies to things you ingest visually and mentally.
**
About Jasmine Payne:
Jasmine is a Resident in Counseling and provides services at the Fredericksburg location. She is a two-time graduate of Longwood University, receiving her B.S. in Psychology along with an M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Throughout her graduate studies, Jasmine worked with teens and adults who belonged to various minority and multicultural populations. She currently sits on the executive board for VA-ALGBTIC and has over a year of experience working with this specific community. She also has familiarity with a wide spectrum of mental health concerns including anxiety/depression, grief, belonging, high stress, moodiness, self-improvement, motivation, relationship issues, substance use, and many more.
Jasmine provides a person-centered and existential approach while utilizing solution-based and cognitive-behavioral interventions. All that boils down to a counselor who understands the role our individual cultural identities play in our lives and believes the client is the expert on their experience. She works with you to pinpoint the presenting problem, and then helps to find practical solutions and identify strengths. She believes in getting to the root of our core beliefs to discover how they impact our daily life and influence the patterns of our relationships. Jasmine strives to build a foundation with her clients to learn their stories and help support their vision.
She works under the supervision of Alycia Burant, LPC, NCC. In the event clients have any questions or concerns about Jasmine’s work, her supervisor can be contacted at 950 N. Washington St. Suite 322 Alexandria VA 22314, 540-845-6940, or aburant@healthyminds-therapy.com