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Emotional Health Minute: Feeling negative? Who do you hang with?

Did you know that emotions are contagious?  If you spend a lot of time with positive, happy people, chances are some of that will rub off.  And the opposite is true when hanging out with the more negatively focused.  Humans being humans, they have a range of emotions and all are valid but be mindful of who your primary groups are and how you feel.

Are you hanging out with negative people?If you have a tendency to go dark yourself or have a more glass half empty attitude (which some people do, especially if they have a challenged family of origin or trauma history), it’s even more important to take a look at those around you and make an extra effort to sprinkle in some of the sunnier dispositions.

Take stock in who you hang with.

If you make an effort to shuffle your groups some, spend less time with the more challenging individuals yet you still feel it’s hard to break out of that feeling, perhaps there is work to be done.  I help people get to the bottom of why they’re feeling badly or more bleak, untangle any unhealthy roots and consider changes in the here and now to break the negativity bias.

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Lisa Brookes Kift, MFT
Lisa Brookes Kift, MFT has a private practice in Marin County (Larkspur), CA., working with individuals and couples in-office or via tele-health for those in California. Lisa is also the creator of LoveAndLifeToolbox.com with articles and tools in support of emotional health and relationships. A frequent media consultant, she has appeared online in CNN, HuffingtonPost, Shape, Men’s Health and others. She lives in Mill Valley, California, loves nature, travel and is an avid tennis player.