My TLC Workbook

Introduction

One day, as I was on my way to teach class, a former student saw me walking by and asked me to stop for a moment. His wife, who was on the phone with him, wanted to speak to me. He put her on speaker, and she said “Thank you for what you taught Leonard in your class! Because of you, he’s really listening to me for the first time in our marriage!” Leonard and I had practiced good listening techniques as part of his Basic Counseling Skills class. In writing goals for his Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Workbook, he had made it a goal under Relationships to listen to his wife more deeply. He followed through with this TLC and his marriage began to thrive. I was thrilled to hear this news from his wife firsthand. Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLCs) are a commonsense approach to selfcare that, when combined with therapy or medication, can facilitate healing in the brain and body. These changes made in key wellness areas of one’s life help prevent burnout and promote health. They include spiritual enhancement, physical activity and exercise, sleep, nutrition, relationships, service, brain work, practicing hopeful thinking, emotional regulation, creative endeavors, and areas of self-discipline. As a young professional, I worked 10 chaotic years while not practicing TLCs, and I burned out and caused harm to my body, resulting in chronic fatigue. I left the field to homeschool my children for 25 years. On my return, I began teaching at Lone Star College Montgomery Campus, where I was encouraged to see that TLCs had become standard practice in wellness and counseling. I wanted to help my Basic Counseling Skills students create healthful habits that would allow them to flourish in their careers as helping professionals without burning out, and to provide a tool to help their clients. I created a basic TLC template with status, goals, and strengths in different areas. The viii original form has since been expanded to create Chapter 4 of this workbook. During a few months of the semester, students would fill in this form to set goals in each area of wellness, turn in their drafts for my input, and then revise and resubmit. My students’ responses to using this tool were overwhelmingly positive. Before they even finished identifying and writing down goals in all TLC areas, they started feeling the effects of changes they had just begun to put into practice. Instead of orally describing how to fill in their TLCs, I wanted to include detailed written instructions, which became the first three chapters of this workbook. I soon realized that this format would benefit not only my students and their future clients but many health-conscious individuals and those in recovery as well. If you long to heal your brain and body and to create a calm, stable lifestyle, this workbook is for you. I’ve tried to keep the first three chapters as short and simple as possible so you can get right to Chapter 4 and begin writing your TLCs, implementing changes, and seeing results.