Counselor • Speaker • Author

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You Already

Have

Well Being

Why didn’t anyone tell you before now?

Something everyone should be taught,

as early as possible

but it’s never too late…


EVERYONE IS A MOMENT AWAY

FROM WELL-BEING

AT ALL TIMES

It’s not that you don’t have what you need, you just need to know what you have! 


What I have learned from working for 30 years in public mental health and private counseling, is that it is not that you don’t have the ability to find solutions and resilience to be okay. You just may not have yet acknowledged what you already do, whoever already are, and what you already know.


Misconceptions

  •  “I need to improve my skills and habits to have well-being.”
  • “When I feel content or comfortable, I better hold on tight so
  • I don’t lose it.”
  • “So-and-so has more well-being than I do. She has her life together.”
  • “I don’t believe I can feel well-being in my current life circumstances.”
  •  “I need to help/change a loved one before I can feel well-being.”
  •  “I don’t have the energy to do what’s required to feel well-being.”
  • “Well-being implies smoothness or perfection.”
  •  “It’s my fault if I don’t feel it.”
  •  “Well-being is not that important. It can wait.”
  •  “Well-being is acquired or learned.”

Truths

How can you better notice moments of well-being? Let’s focus on

the inner experience:

  •  It feels like an absence of issues. The psychological experiences of an “absence of issues” can happen whether or not you have actual situations that need to be addressed.
  •  It is freedom from doubt and second-guessing. Moments when you don’t have time to overthink, or it doesn’t occur to you to do so.
  •  It comes to you as ease, flow, and intuition; it balances intellect and effort. Unexpectedly, you know what to do. It is very different from the assumptions many of us have about how it’s important to go through life: that we must be vigilant, worry, distrust ourselves or distrust others, or be rigid in our expectations of ourselves.
  • Like resilient, adaptable hummingbirds, you can see what is required in the moment instead of clinging to old beliefs. An example is an athlete trained to be mentally resilient and needs to know when to allow his feelings out rather than “tough it out” and act out self-destructively. He learns he can feel and express his feelings and be okay.

 

About Joanna Hill

Joanna is passionate about helping people feel more ease and joy now and in the years to come. She works with adults, teens and children to increase well-being and potential for themselves, their families, and their community. Joanna feels grateful to work with clients in a beautiful office in Moraga, focusing on innate resilience in the face of daily stress, anxiety, transitions, relationship and family issues, diagnoses and other aspects of life.

Joanna studied Social Psychology at Stanford University and earned dual Masters degrees in Social Work and Public Administration from Columbia University. In 1999, she became a Certified Three Principles Psychology Practitioner (an inside-out approach) through Santa Clara County Department of Drug and Alcohol Services. Joanna has worked for nonprofit agencies in CA, NY and DC, helping individuals diagnosed with psychiatric conditions and physical health issues secure their needs and pursue their goals. She was Project Manager for the National Community Resilience Project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, with the Center for Sustainable Change, evaluating outcomes in community resilience. 


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Hummingbirds embody lightness of being, lifting up negativity, swiftness, adaptability, resiliency, and bringing playfulness and joy to life. This is the perfect symbol for the role of counseling, coaching and education!