Today we are talking about mental wellness and overcoming self-doubt with Dr. Katy Kamkar.

Dr. Kamkar is a Clinical Psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and Assistant Professor with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.

Dr. Kamkar's passion and a focus of her work is providing community-wide education that encourages conversation about mental health and well-being-to reduce the stigma of mental illness. She explains that talking about mental health normalizes the conversation to help take away the fear and stigma associated with mental illness. Mental health is health.

During our conversation, Dr. Kamkar relates how a negative viewpoint can result in self-doubt that impacts personal growth and the ability to reach our full potential. An internal bias allows negative thoughts and events to have more sticking power so we begin searching for evidence that reinforces pessimistic attitudes.

She offers practical strategies and tools to interrupt our inner critic. To suspend or deter negativity, it's important to have a balanced self-regard-appreciate our positive aspects while accepting our gaps and limitations. This helps offset swinging too far either way. Dr. Katy reminds us there is great power in pausing, to catch our thoughts and bring them into our awareness. She also recommends talking about how we feel. This helps us recognize we are not alone.

Dr. Kamkar encourages everyone to pay attention to mental wellness and overall well-being by consciously building a sense of self-worth. For example, the expression of gratitude elevates self-esteem. Research indicates that when people are thankful for good things and express gratitude, they focus on the positive, resulting in a better frame of mind.

She leaves us with a thoughtful reminder not to be afraid of our thoughts and emotions. When we recognize our negative emotions, we're able to put them into perspective and prioritize practicing self-kindness and compassion. The starting point is recognizing the importance of self-care and personal growth.

Twitter: @DrKatyKamkar Linkedln: Dr. Katy Kamkar

www.katykamkar.com/videos

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