Mental Wellness Mastery: Mental Health Expert Katelyn McMahon On Everyday Life Hacks For Optimal Mental Wellness
An Interview With Eden Gold
Move your body. This can be especially helpful if you struggle with anxiety like one of my clients did. His anxiety often made his body feel tense, even though inside he felt a sense of frantic urgency. Walking helping him feel more calm and relaxed. It loosened his tense muscles and also provided an outlet for the pent-up anxious energy he felt inside.
In our modern, fast-paced society, mental wellness is a crucial aspect of leading a fulfilling life. However, for many people, achieving and maintaining good mental health can be a challenging task, with obstacles such as stress, anxiety, depression, and more. That’s why it’s essential to have practical and accessible strategies for mental wellness that can help build resilience, emotional intelligence, and overall well-being. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Katelyn McMahon.
Katelyn is a therapist-turned-writer with a passion for mental health. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of New England, and she is a Registered Psychotherapist (#097.0134200) in the state of Vermont with professional experience in aging care, addiction treatment, integrated healthcare, and private practice settings. She also has lived experience being on the client side of therapy. Currently, she’s a content writer who’s passionate about spreading mental health awareness and helping other therapists and therapy-seekers Do The Work.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about cultural sensitivity, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I grew up in rural Vermont. Before I had an interest in psychology and mental health, I was (and still am!) a voracious reader. I loved hearing stories about people whose lives were different than mine, and reading was a way to do that while living in a mostly-homogenous area.
I took my first psychology class when I was a senior in high school, and that’s when I knew that career path was for me. I went on to study psychology and social work as an undergrad. Like many other people from small towns, going to college opened my world to new experiences.
After graduating, I moved back to my home state and started working in the field before going back to school for my MSW. I’ve been fortunate enough to serve the community I grew up in, and my education and professional experiences also led me to start my own personal mental health journey.
I stepped back from working directly with clients a little over a year ago, and I’m now a writer in the mental health space. I love being able to help other therapists and therapy-seekers in this creative way.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
My overall career path has been the most interesting thing that’s happened to me since it’s taken so many unexpected twists and turns. My first social work experience was in a nursing home, and I thought I would continue working as a geriatric social worker after graduation because I loved it.
However, my path took me back to my home state and I started a job in an addiction treatment program. I never saw myself in that role, but I truly enjoyed it and learned so much from the people (coworkers and clients alike) that I crossed paths with there.
Graduating with my MSW right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was another big twist. I started a job in a primary care office then, and as you can imagine, it was an intense time to be working in healthcare. I held so much anxiety and at that time alongside my clients.
Eventually, I transitioned out of that role and opened my own private practice: another career step that I couldn’t have foreseen!
Now, working as a mental health writer feels completely right, but I never would have expected it when I started this journey.
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Curiosity. My whole career has been driven by an interest in learning about others (and myself!). This has led me to seek out new experiences and be open to opportunities as they come.
- Willingness to learn. Having new experiences is both exciting and humbling at the same time. It’s amazing to continuously work with new populations and have the chance to help people in different ways, but it also means becoming a beginner again and again. Being around other people who know more than you can be a big ego-check, but getting pushed out of your bubble is the only way to grow!
- Creativity. We’re often fed such a narrow idea of “success,” but this can often hold us back from achieving goals that are actually meaningful to us as individuals. My ability to think creatively about what I actually want and what success means to me has helped me grow in a way that I may not have otherwise been able to.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview about mental wellness mastery. What is one often overlooked daily habit that can significantly improve one’s mental wellness?
Doing something you enjoy. This sounds simple, but the experience of pleasure or joy can be easily overlooked. Even on my own mental health journey, I can get caught up in “going through the motions” or “checking the box” of activities that I think I “should” do to support my wellness. But what are we actually doing these activities for?
I notice a big difference in my overall mood and attitude when I can prioritize doing something small I enjoy each day, even if it’s not the “right” thing like meditating or listening to a mental health podcast (though I do sometimes enjoy those things, too). For me, it might be baking muffins in the morning, taking time to read a few chapters in my current book before bed, or taking a walk by the lake.
Making the conscious effort to enjoy your day can go a long way.
How do you recommend individuals recalibrate their mental wellness after experiencing a significant setback or failure?
Use self-compassion and radical acceptance. Mental health isn’t linear, and there will always be another stressor or setback down the line. As a recovering perfectionist, I’m still working on accepting this myself, so I know that it’s difficult. However, we can reduce our suffering when we accept that challenges are a part of life and show ourselves compassion for experiencing these difficulties.
My current favorite way to remind myself of this is to repeat a quote from the Mindful Self Compassion Workbook by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer:
“Be a compassionate mess. … There’s nothing I can do to change the fact that I’m an imperfect human being who sometimes gets it wrong. May I try to accept myself with understanding and kindness.”
In your experience, what is a common misconception about mental health that hinders people from seeking help or improving their wellness?
There’s a common misconception that something needs to be “really wrong” to seek therapy or want to improve their mental health. You don’t need to let things get “bad enough” to want to feel better or learn more about yourself! While I definitely recommend getting support in a crisis, you might actually experience more insight and growth at a time when things don’t feel as intense. So if you’re considering seeking therapy or starting a wellness journey but aren’t sure if you deserve support because things aren’t at that level, this is your sign to take the next step.
Can you share a transformative moment or client story that highlights the power of a specific mental wellness strategy?
I once worked with someone who experienced a lot of shame around the fact that he had trouble completing tasks around his home. Dishes would pile up, laundry needed to be done, and the trash needed to be taken out, but he felt frozen by shame that he “should” have already completed these tasks before they reached this level.
Together, we worked on practicing self-compassion. He began to learn how to speak to himself like he would to a friend going through a hard time. When he was consistently able to approach himself with genuine compassion, he realized that he had an easier time getting things done around the house.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Everyday Life Hacks For Optimal Mental Wellness?”
1 . Practice gratitude. I once had a client who was struggling with grief from some significant losses in her life. The grief felt all-consuming, so her friend suggested that they start a daily gratitude practice together. They would start by texting each other one thing they were grateful for and keep it up for a week. When the next week started, they increased to two things they were grateful for. This practice encouraged my client to reflect on things she enjoyed about her life, and the support and accountability from her friend really helped. It didn’t erase the grief, but it helped to balance it out and feel more bearable.
2 . Move your body. This can be especially helpful if you struggle with anxiety like one of my clients did. His anxiety often made his body feel tense, even though inside he felt a sense of frantic urgency. Walking helping him feel more calm and relaxed. It loosened his tense muscles and also provided an outlet for the pent-up anxious energy he felt inside.
3 . Breathing exercises. I’ve practiced a lot of breathing exercises with clients and on my own journey, and my favorite is the 4–7–8 technique. This involves inhaling for four seconds, holding your breath for seven seconds, and exhaling for eight seconds. When our bodies are in fight-or-flight mode, we may take shallow breaths without even realizing it. Taking measured inhales and deep exhales can help us release tension and promote a sense of relaxation.
4 . Prioritize sleep. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBT-I, is an evidence-based treatment for insomnia that research shows may be more effective than medication. I used this approach with some clients when I worked in primary care. Lack of sleep can have tons of negative physical and mental health effects, so making sure that you get enough sleep is important. While the treatment is delivered over several sessions, you can start implementing simple sleep hygiene tips today: avoid screens for at least 30 minutes (ideally more) before bed, try to get up at the same time every morning, and avoid doing activities other than sleeping in bed.
5 . Positive affirmations. Yes, they sound cheesy — but they work. I recommend using them as a way to build self-compassion rather than engaging in toxic positivity or trying to convince yourself that you think something that doesn’t actually feel true to you. Simple phrases like “May I be at peace” or “May I show myself kindness” can be helpful starting points.
What role does technology play in mental wellness today, and how can individuals leverage it positively without exacerbating mental health issues?
Most things aren’t all good or all bad, and technology is no different. For example, using social media may cause us to compare ourselves to others and feel like we’re falling short. On the other hand, it can be a way to connect with other people who are experiencing similar struggles, offering a powerful reminder that we’re not alone. I recommend taking a mindful approach to any use of technology: pay attention to how you feel when you use it instead of scrolling mindlessly or automatically picking up your phone without thinking.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’ve talked a lot about self-compassion here, so I think that’s the movement I would like to start. I’m still very much on my own journey of learning self-compassion, but I’ve felt how transformative it can be in difficult moments, and I’ve seen my former clients reap the benefits as well. So many of us tend to be harder on ourselves than we are on others, and I think we’d be surprised to see how much we can grow and give (to ourselves and each other) when we can approach ourselves with kindness.
How can our readers further follow you online?
I’m a content contributor at Best Therapists, a new therapy directory that focuses on quality so therapy-seekers can focus on fit. We’re committed to supporting the mental health of both therapists and therapy-seekers, and I share my thoughts on all kinds of different wellness topics on our blog.
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Mental Wellness Mastery: Mental Health Expert Katelyn McMahon On Everyday Life Hacks For Optimal… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.