By Mary O’KEEFE

The third speaker in the four speaker series for CV Cares was Annie Varvaryan, Psy.D., licensed clinical psychologist with Couch Conversations Psychotherapy. Varvaryan spoke to an intimate audience about how people’s thoughts can affect their lives.

“Our thoughts can be distorted and not based in our reality, especially when we are in distress,” Varvaryan said.

She spoke to the audience on how thoughts, emotions and behaviors are all connected and helped them discover where unhelpful thought patterns stem from and how therapy can help people meet goals of avoiding unhelpful thought patterns.

“We want to challenge unhelpful thoughts and correct them so that they more closely align with reality,” she said.

A lot of negative thoughts may be from core beliefs that individuals have held on to since they were young. Those negative thoughts can include the person is unlovable while others are equally hurtful or provide a worldview of mistrust. But she spoke of how those negative thoughts can be changed once they are understood and by building resiliency – knowing one’s inner child, being self-aware and being curious.

There was also a portion of the discussion that dealt with self-compassion. A lot of times, she said, people can build self-compassion by incorporating it into their lives. People tend to be hard on themselves and therefore feel that self-compassion may be a way of letting themselves “off the hook” when they make a mistake.

She said it is easier to be compassionate to others than to oneself.

“We want to challenge unhelpful thoughts and correct them so they more closely align with reality,” she said. “Our emotional, physiological and mental response is mediated by our perceptions of ourselves, others and the world. If those perceptions are not accurate then we will navigate our world with [an] inaccurate worldview.”

She suggested a good way to work on bringing reality into people’s lives is by writing down unhelpful thoughts and keeping a journal.

Couch Conversations Psychotherapy and Counseling is located at 2303 Florencita Drive in Montrose; phone (818) 275-0559.

The CV Cares Speaker Series is part of the Crescenta Valley Substance Misuse Prevention Coalition and Impact LA Foundation. The first in the series was a presentation by Carmela Tunzi, founder of Sherman Oaks Hypnosis. She demonstrated how hypnosis is used in everyday life and worked with an audience member on how to take a negative feeling and move it into a positive realm.

The second speakers in the series were officers from the Glendale Police Dept. Narcotics Unit who shared information on drugs including fentanyl use. Sona Hovsepian, clinical program director for Glendale’s Substance Abuse and Wellness Resource Program, led the presentation on how addiction can affect individuals and families.

The final presentation in the Speaker Series will be on Sept. 24 when Kristen Gilliland, Ph.D. presents “The Impact of Stress on Substance Use on the Developing Brain.”

These free events serve as a valuable resource for the community, offering insights and strategies from experts in the field. For more information, visit TheImpactFoundationLA.org/CVcares.