I Used DBT Skills!

I'm not looking forward to explaining my next two pieces of art. So instead of posting those today, I'm going to rant about how stressful my job is right now and brag about how I threw DBT skills at everything! Yay!! Don't worry - there will still be a pretty picture.

I love my job - I work in a neuroscience lab as a research assistant and I have a wonderful coworker. However, like any other job, it has its downfalls. Example: We don't have a bathroom that we can access without actually leaving the building that we work in and going outside.... bad weather is not fun for us.

Today had EXTRA craziness! My coworker and I were at the epicenter of some company drama! Basically, there are some safety issues in our lab that we asked to be addressed. Apparently I work with a bunch of children because we got the cold shoulder for pointing out that we have a right to a safe work environment. And now the whole thing is getting twisted to make us seem like the bad guys. The rest of the story is very complicated soooo long story short - really stressful day at work.

BUT I used DBT skills! Yay! So now I'm going to talk about some skills that I find useful in stressful work situations! And maybe you will too!

1. I self-soothed! 

• I changed my desktop background to a neuron because it's pretty and cool and nice to look at:

Source: http://healthylivingadvice.info/brain-cells/

• I bought a bag of candy and ate some. Yum.

2. I used interpersonal effectiveness skills!

• I asked for what I needed at work and was assertive and confident. Even when I was being ignored I continued to ask for what I needed and attempted to negotiate. Too bad they couldn't be as professional.

3. I increased positive emotions!

• I found something to look forward to: It was my birthday in the past few weeks and my brother sent me a present in the mail that arrived today. So I spent the second half of my day focusing on what awesome thing he might have sent me.
• I used humor with my coworker to make fun of the situation rather than getting discouraged by it.

In conclusion, DBT sometimes pisses me off, but it's actually pretty helpful. And maybe I'll draw something based off of this situation... not promising anything though.