LOS ANGELES - June 20, 2024 - Diane Gehart, PhD today announced the official YouTube release of her TEDx talk, “Mental Health Unmasked: Unveiling the Secrets to Sustained Sanity.” Dr. Gehart is an expert in the 360-degree approach to the treatment of anxiety, depression, and prevalent mental health issues. Her view is that a unifying framework, which is evidence-based and holistic, is the most logical and ideal way to synthesize the entirety of all psychotherapy theories and research. Its guiding principle is simple: Do what works.
Gehart is not a fan of today’s fragmented mental health methods and resources. She sees a true crisis. According to research from the World Health Organization, 13% of the global population, a billion people, have formal mental health disorders at any given moment. Add to this a 13% surge in global mental health issues during the past decade.
She explained that finding the best treatment is elusive. “Did you know there are over 500 psychotherapy approaches to work with our complex minds?” asked Gehart. The average therapist is formally supervised and trained in just a couple of those approaches, so finding the right fit is like searching for a needle in a haystack, except the needle holds the sanity key. In addition, it takes several decades for scientific advances to reach a practicing professional, resulting in the majority of clients not receiving cutting-edge care. She also noted that looking for help or attention through social media is not the best choice. This process can backfire and make people feel worse.
Gehart’s solution is two-fold: (1) transforming the field by adopting a unifying framework that prioritizes a collaborative partnership between professionals and clients, and (2) empowering everyone with simple, evidence-based strategies that lay the foundation for wellness.
A transformation of the field will take decades, but everyone can take charge of their mental health by making small shifts in their everyday habits today. She introduces the five pillars of wellness, which are the well-documented foundation for lifelong emotional wellness:
• A healthy, balanced diet of mostly whole foods
• Regular exercise, ideally outdoors
• 7-9 hours of quality sleep
• Supportive relationships and tightly knit communities
• A set of reliable strategies for coping with stress that involves more than a margarita on the beach.
Gehart explained, “There is a stunning amount of research that these pillars can be more effective than typical treatment. For example, numerous studies indicate that exercise is up to one-and-half times more effective for treating depression than antidepressant medication.”
However, she acknowledged that although the five pillars are simple, they are not easy because the stress-response often undermines our best efforts to change our habits. What does one do? Dr. Gehart has actionable answers that make a lot of sense and involve micro-habits, real-world solutions everyone can use to promote their mental health. “The key is to break every goal down to the tiniest tasks that you could do even on your most overwhelmed day,” Gehart said. ‘Want to exercise for 30 minutes? Nope. Let us start with one set of counter pushups and squats. Eating healthier? How about adding three baby carrots a day? And for boosting friendships, forget the hour-long lunch, just send a 30-second text to a friend. It is all about sneaking past your brain's defenses with itsy-bitsy victories.”
The reason that people need these tiny goals is that it shuts down the inner critic. When a person shuts down their inner critic, one can achieve anything in life.
Dr. Diane Gehart is an award-winning author, educator, and speaker, and over the past 30 years she has trained thousands of licensed mental health professionals. She is the founder of “The Therapy that Works Institute," and is Professor Emerita in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at California State University, Northridge.
The TEDx Talk took place at Queens University in Canada
For more information on Dr. Gehart’s TEDx talk, visit https://youtu.be/gcyDjquKoSE?si=IziJBlycCV4HBbH4
Or, visit www.dianegehart.com.
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