by Samantha Hellberg, M.A.*, Jennifer Kirby, Ph.D.*, & Tiffany Hopkins, Ph.D.**
*University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
**University of North Carolina, School of Medicine
Welcome back to Surviving and Thriving in Clinical Science Training! We are glad that you have stepped away from your endless task list and are considering ways to support your well-being as a clinical science trainee. New to this series? Check out our first article here to learn more about it. In short, we hope to offer skills and strategies for common challenges faced during clinical science training.
Home Practice Review
In the last article, we asked you to notice the day-to-day “highs and lows” in your training experience. If you tried this– kudos! From these observations, you may have noticed areas in your training where things are going well, and areas where you would like some more tools or support. This practice was intended to flex your mindfulness skills in training contexts. Mindfulness is a core skill in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and is taught first because we need to be aware of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and the context surrounding them; this also helps us to use our other skills effectively. Mindfulness can help us understand what we are experiencing and what next steps we need to take to solve problems, feel better, and move towards what matters to us. Ready to build on this foundation with another skill? Keep reading!
Featured Skill: Wise Mind
What is it?
In the mindfulness module, DBT outlines three states of mind: reasonable mind, emotion mind, and wise mind. Let us start by taking a closer look at each of these minds.
Reasonable mind focuses on logic and facts and tends to disregard our feelings and values. In clinical science training, reasonable mind might look like:
- Only attending to work-related tasks, and not protecting time for other personal needs (e.g., connection, exercise, rest)
- Deprioritizing your values to increase the likelihood of matching with a training site or getting a position, because it looks “good” on paper
- Discounting your sense of what works best for you because others have been able to make it work (e.g., adding another commitment, role, class)
- Choosing a given project because it takes less time or is simpler to do, yet you do not find it interesting
Emotion mind is completely driven by the emotion you feel in the moment. When you are in this state of mind, you do not pay attention to the facts or your long-term goals. In training contexts, emotion mind might look like:
- Not working on a task–emails, dissertation, clinical notes, the list goes on–because you do not feel motivated to do it or are overwhelmed
- Avoiding a difficult conversation with a supervisor out of fear of negative evaluation, even though you need their support and/or feedback
- Never saying no despite your workload–whether because you feel scared or guilty to do so, or you are excited about new opportunities
- Spending too much time on one assignment to get it “perfect” and neglecting other tasks or responsibilities
Reasonable and emotion mind each give us valuable information, yet the integration of the two gives us a more helpful path forward. DBT calls this integration wise mind. When you are in wise mind, you appreciate both the facts and your feelings. You attend to both your values and your goals. In training, this might look like:
- Acknowledging that you are at capacity, and asking for help or saying no
- Taking a training site off your list–because even though it has a lot to offer, you can tell it is not a good match for your goals and needs
- Setting specific goals to stay on track for your dissertation timeline and sticking to them, even when you are unmotivated and just want to watch Great British Baking Show
How do I get to my ‘wise mind’?
If you are interested in bringing the benefits of wise mind into training contexts, you might:
- Practice noticing which state of mind you are in. If you have a strong urge– for example, to procrastinate or to keep perfecting a draft before sending it to your advisor– pause, and ask yourself, what state of mind am I in right now? Is this wise mind?
- Practice connecting to wise mind. If you are new to this skill, consider trying some of the wise mind practices. There are many examples available in the Linehan (2014) skill manual, online, and recorded on YouTube. Figure out which works best for you and come back to them when you find yourself stuck in emotion or reasonable mind.
- Practice connecting to your values. Wise mind is tied closely to your values. Sometimes, we struggle to connect to our wise mind because we are not sure what our values or goals are in a situation. If you find yourself stuck, consider spending a bit of time clarifying what matters to you most in that situation–learning, growth, connection, humility, etc.– and then see if you have more luck getting into wise mind and figuring out what you want to do.
Home Practice Assignment
Over the next few weeks, you might consider incorporating the above practices into your day-to-day. By attending to how you are thinking, feeling, and behaving, you can build more insight into these states of mind and strengthen your connection to your own wisdom. Being able to access your wise mind more readily can help you navigate the challenges that inevitably arise in clinical science training more effectively.
We hope you will join us again for our next article!
Have a question about how DBT skills may be used to address challenges that clinical science trainees often face?We would love to tackle it in a future article. Contact shellberg@unc.edu.
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References
Linehan, M. (2014). DBT Skills training manual. Guilford Publications.
Linehan, M. M. (2018). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Guilford Publications.
Pakenham, K. I., & Stafford‐Brown, J. (2012). Stress in clinical psychology trainees: Current research status and future directions. Australian Psychologist, 47(3), 147-155.
Salgado, D. M., White, A. W., Peterson, D., & Dimeff, L. A. (2019). Cultivating wise mind in dialectical behavior therapy through mindfulness. In Handbook of Mindfulness-Based Programmes (pp. 18-28). Routledge.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS).