Mental Health Awareness Month: Getting Your Brain Onboard

Let me tell you a little about the brain. The brain is never actually against us, even though it can feel that way (especially late at night when it tells us we can have one more snack, or replays every conversation we had that day). At it’s core, the brain is focused on survival—and on repeating what it did yesterday. It uses the past as proof that the way we thought and behaved kept us safe, we survived yesterday. It doesn’t matter how good or bad the day was—your brain’s message is often, “stay the same.”

That means even patterns that don’t feel good—overthinking, overcommitting, people-pleasing, pushing through exhaustion—can get reinforced simply because they’re familiar. This is why change is hard. This is why stepping into our worth is hard. Because no matter how beneficial it is to believe we deserve support, to recognize how capable we are, or to take breaks, the brain doesn’t automatically agree. It hasn’t seen enough proof yet.

So during this Mental Health Awareness Month, as we challenge ourselves to be more positive, loving, and compassionate—I want you to start small. Small changes don’t feel like as much of a threat to the brain’s system. They fly under the radar and are much easier to turn into habits. They don’t require a full identity shift overnight. They simply ask you to show up a little differently, in a way your brain can slowly learn to trust.

What small changes could you begin to add to your schedule that reflect back to your brain that you are worthy?

• Scheduling breaks, even if they’re short.
• Treating yourself without needing to justify it.
• Taking walks, even if it’s just around the block.
• Journaling your thoughts instead of carrying them all day.
• Deep breathing between meetings or transitions.
• Delegating something instead of holding it all.

Take your pick—but keep it manageable. These small actions subconsciously reinforce your worth, especially when practiced consistently. It becomes harder for your brain to argue against something your behavior is regularly proving. Eventually, you won’t have to convince yourself—you’ll simply believe it, because your actions have created evidence over time.

In my office, we call these coping skills. When people think of coping skills, they often picture deep breathing, working out, coloring books, or talking to someone after they’ve already experienced discomfort, panic, anxiety, or depression. And of course, coping skills can be partially helpful during those times.

But you may be surprised to know that they are often even more powerful when used as preventatives. I like to say, “A coping skill a day keeps the therapist away,” and while that’s said with a bit of humor, there’s truth in it. Disregarding coping skills is almost always one of the reasons people find themselves back in counseling—not because they failed, but because they stopped consistently supporting themselves in the small ways that keep stress from building.

Coping skills help to keep the day-to-day, or role to role, stress clear. And one of the best ways to use them is during transition times throughout your day. Think about how often you move from one role to another without a break. From work to home. From parenting to partnership. From productivity to trying to rest. Without a reset, the energy from one role follows you into the next. Stress stacks, and emotions linger. Your mind doesn’t get a chance to close one loop before opening another.

Using a coping skill during those transitions—even something that takes two to five minutes—can help you shake off the swirly, anxious energy that developed in your last role and step into the next one more present, more grounded, and more clear.

Coping skills can include anything that:

• distracts you in a healthy way
• helps you process what you’re going through
• involves movement or physical release
• supports your body or nervous system
• feels like a small act of care toward yourself

Where we often get stuck when implementing something new is trying to shock the brain with big, sweeping changes. We decide we’re going to overhaul everything—our routines, our habits, our mindset—and we expect ourselves to maintain it perfectly. But the brain’s defenses go up, and the system gets overloaded. And the likelihood of lasting change drops significantly. This is why fad diets, extreme resets, and “all or nothing” approaches rarely stick. Instead, we have to gently guide the brain into something new—slowly and consistently. Trying one coping skill per day can be a great start. Not ten. Not a full routine overhaul. Just one. Something you can realistically repeat.

If you can build a routine of small, intentional coping skills that reinforce your worth, you may be surprised at how quickly your confidence, relationships, and overall sense of well-being begin to shift. Not overnight—but steadily, in a way that actually lasts.

What I come back to often is this: your brain isn’t trying to work against you. It’s trying to protect you. And the more we stop being frustrated with it, and start working with it, the more sustainable change becomes possible.

Mental health isn’t built in one big breakthrough moment—it’s built in the small, daily ways you show your brain what’s safe, what’s possible, and what you deserve. So this month, instead of asking yourself to overhaul everything, ask: What is one small way I can support myself today?

Then do it again tomorrow. And then again the next day. Over time, those small moments don’t just change your habits—they change how you see yourself. And that’s where real, lasting well-being begins.

So create a list of coping skills, plug them into your schedule in ways that feel realistic, and watch what begins to shift—not just in what you do, but in how you think, how you feel, and how you show up in your life.