Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦

Clinical Psychologist. Helping people get unstuck from self-limiting patterns. I see the world with a humanistic experience-focused lens. Opinions my own

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

Want bite-sized, action-able readings on mental health and self-growth?

I'll be posting my #ship30for30 atomic essays in this thread 👇

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

@JonathanShedler I've had clients say something like "well, you're paid to care for me" (implying 1 or 2). I've used various responses, incl. "I guess you mean my care for you cannot be genuine if I'm accepting a fee for it". Curious to hear how you'd approach this and how you'd move toward 3.

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

@Ravarora1 @podcastnotes @RickRubin @hubermanlab Generally any breath pattern where the exhale is longer than the inhale works. The exhale phase has heart beats that are spread farther apart in time by a few milliseconds relative to the inhale phase, hence this creates more variability in the HR.

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

Living Well with Chronic Illness: How to Use Behavioural Experiments to Redefine What’s Possible

https://t.co/l7ENifW9yC

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

@Nicolascole77 👻

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

Emotional maturity does not mean being impervious to feeling irritated, envious, upset, or blue. It means giving space to all those feelings inside you and being willing to explore and understand them curiously and compassionately.

[DomTheBomb @DomTheBomb]

To celebrate the release of #SpiderMan2 next Friday, October 20th I am doing a global giveaway for three copies of the game on PS5!

Rules to Enter:
1. RETWEET and LIKE this Post
2. Follow Me on Twitter/X

Winners picked October, 24th at 8PM EST!

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

@SN_Hellberg I know one thing that would help is an internship match process that provides matches within applicants' geographic limitations. After 10 years of low income status, it is a costly ask to require interns to relocate for 1 year away from family that provide or require support.

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

@DavidPuder @JonathanShedler How would you go about treating a client who's partner or parent is narcissistic, assuming the client wants to continue having a relationship with them? What would be key in helping client come to terms with the other person's narcissistic traits?

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

Buy "Taking the SPECS OFF (new short eBook on How To Transform Troublesome Thinking)" on @Gumroad https://t.co/lic7RmnSGX

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

Therapy is most effective when patient's dysfunctional life patterns are brought into session, live and direct, so that the therapist and patient can feel their way and work through it together. This process cannot be simulated in formats other than human to human relationships.

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

Check out my latest article: Do you Spiral in Self-Comparison? Here's a Way Out. https://t.co/PKs9g8Tn1b via @LinkedIn

[Jonathan Shedler @JonathanShedler]

1/ Just for kicks, I asked ChatGPT about mistakes of inexperienced/poorly trained therapists. Now I'm going to take the 7 platitudes it produced and try to say something meaningful about each

1️⃣ Lack of empathy. Empathy is not a skill or intervention. It's emotional resonance

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

@iamsam_williams Like the idea of removing reinforcers so that primary association is b/w activity and satisfaction derived from it (eventually). However, I wonder about the value of using secondary reinforcers (e.g., music/podcasts while exercising, treating yourself after) at least to start.

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

@JonathanShedler @GoldfriedMarvin Sometimes if I am offering a client a technique, they will a) ask me if they're doing it well, 2) get discouraged/self-critical, 3) intellectualize it, 4) don't do it, etc. I find the most corrective experience they get from therapy is when I call these things out and we discuss.

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

Loving father, son, and husband; Shakeel Ashraf

#Milton Ontario shooting
https://t.co/6QL9ZiXJKy

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

Summary: Anxiety is conditioned (learned) fear that relates to unconditioned (natural) fears. Anxiety can manifest differently for different people with different lives. Follow for more insights. #mentalhealth #MentalHealthMatters #psychtwitter

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

Human anxiety generally boils down to six unconditioned (natural) fears.

1. Death of self/loved ones
2. Violence/injury
3. Sickness
4. Social rejection
5. Abandonment
6. Failure

🧵

[Dr. Abid Azam, PhD 🇨🇦 @MindfullySelf]

6. Fear of failure relates to the drive to garner power/control and access resources. It manifests in perfectionism and procrastination, and contributes to burnout, and/or underachievement.