Often when people search for wellness they fixate on one or two, often external, factors that they believe will finally bring them joy. This may look like “if I only had a better job”, “if I only had a significant other”, or “if I only lost ten more pounds”. While these things certainly contribute to our well-being examples like these alone cannot bring us happiness.
Wellness is not any one thing or any specific area in our lives. It is a combination of many domains that make up who we are as a person. The United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recognizes eight domains of wellness that contribute to our personal wellness. These areas are Emotional, Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical, Environmental, Financial, Occupational, and Social.
These areas are interconnected and they influence each other. For example, untreated or poorly managed anxiety obviously impacts our emotional well-being but it very quickly can and does impact other areas as well. Perhaps it impacts our work performance due to poor concentration or missing shifts. Or it may look like isolating from friends and family. Maybe we avoid checking our credit card statement because it becomes too overwhelming or we become disconnected from our higher power. The good news is that when it comes to personal well-being and recovery, these interdependent domains can be used to strengthen one another. When we recognize that our emotional well-being is not being well managed, we can build on the other areas. Maybe we can concentrate on our physical health, change our environment, or work on art.
Wellness is not any one of these areas but a combination of them all. In our own search for wellness, it is important to look at all domains to see how they can be used to strengthen and build on one another. Living “life on life’s terms” means that the functioning in these areas will ebb and flow and finding optimal wellness is discovering how they all integrate within the self.
If you are interested in learning more or improving any of these areas of wellness, please contact us at 201-488-6678 or visit https://www.specializedtherapy.com/. We look forward to speaking with you!
