Definition: Mental Health Maintenance
Mental health maintenance is the ongoing, proactive practice of nurturing your psychological wellbeing—not just waiting until a crisis hits or symptoms become unbearable. It’s not about living perfectly or never struggling; it’s about regularly tuning in and taking steps to keep your nervous system balanced, your relationships supportive, and your past wounds from hijacking your present. For high-achieving women, this matters deeply because your drive and success often mask underlying stress patterns that, if left unchecked, chip away at your resilience and joy over time.
Definition: Relational Trauma
Relational trauma refers to the emotional and psychological harm that occurs when early close relationships—usually with caregivers—were unsafe, unpredictable, or neglectful in ways that shape how you relate to yourself and others. It’s not about blame or labeling anyone as ‘bad,’ nor is it about a single event; it’s the ongoing impact of these early experiences living in your nervous system and relationships now. For high-achieving women, relational trauma often shows up as chronic self-doubt, difficulty trusting others, or pushing yourself too hard to prove your worth, even when you’re exhausted.
Mental health requires the same proactive care as physical health — it doesn’t just manage itself. Building a team of supports before you need them is an act of strength, not weakness.
Quick Summary
- You might be excelling in many areas of your life yet still feel quietly overwhelmed by the ongoing weight of managing your mental health without a clear plan or support system.
- This post invites you to see mental health as a proactive, intentional practice — just like physical health — and offers 10 concrete strategies, including building a dedicated care team and addressing the roots of your distress.
- Healing means gathering the right supports for you, tending carefully to your body and nervous system, and embracing complexity without shame or quick fixes, so you can move beyond merely coping toward genuine, lasting wellbeing.
As a therapist, I’m often asked for the top tips I have in supporting mental health.
SUMMARY
Mental health requires the same proactive care as physical health — it doesn’t just manage itself. A therapist shares 10 foundational strategies, from building a care team to addressing the roots of distress, that help driven women create real, lasting wellbeing rather than just coping with symptoms.
Definition
Mental Health Maintenance: An ongoing, proactive set of practices that support psychological wellbeing — not just the absence of crisis. For women with relational trauma or high-achieving lifestyles, this includes nervous system regulation, relational support, and processing childhood patterns that fuel chronic stress.
First of all, I love this question — it means that, for whoever asks it, mental health is actually considered a priority which I absolutely believe it should be!
Next, while I believe that we each have our own unique needs, wants, and preferences when it comes to cultivating and maintaining robust mental health, I do have 10 tips that I think almost anyone could benefit from.
So keep reading to see if you could implement any of these 10 tips to support your own mental health.
A Therapist’s Top 10 Tips For Supporting Your Mental Health.
1. First, recognize and realize that mental health is every single bit as important as physical health.
In assigning mental health the importance it deserves, it can make it far easier and more motivating to seek out and build supports to manage your own mental health.
2. Put together your mental health care team.
You have medical supports, right? A doctor and an OBGYN? A legal and financial team like a lawyer and CPA?
Then I suggest you model your mental health care in the same proactive way and gather around you the supports you need even before you need them: a therapist, a psychiatrist, a clergy counselor, whatever this means for you, curate and gather your mental healthcare team.
Many of us need someone who is not our significant other/friend/parent to talk to about life’s toughest stuff. Get your team in place so you can count on them for that.
3. If you believe medication may be of support to you, seek it out.
Please don’t be dissuaded by any stigma or shame about potentially needing short or long-term pharmacological supports if that’s what your particular brain chemistry needs. Talk to your doctor or psychiatrist if you feel this may be an option you would like/need.
4. Take very good care of your physical health.
Always rule out any underlying physical conditions that may be contributing to your mental health and, of course, visit your doctor regularly to make sure your body is functioning well.
Make sure you’ve got a solid, nutritional plan established that works well for your own body’s unique chemistry (consult with a nutritionist if need be for this!). Move your body daily in moderate, invigorating ways that feel good and enlivening for you.
GET ENOUGH SLEEP! I can’t stress this enough: everything in life – including our mental health – becomes more challenged when we don’t get enough sleep. Avoid mood-altering substances as much as possible and in ways that you specifically need depending on your own brain chemistry.
5. Build nourishing relationships in your life.
Seek out and spend time with those who you feel seen, accepted, and celebrated by. Whether this is friends, a loving partner, a women’s group, your therapist, your spiritual community, or your family, make a point of intentional, regular contact with those nourishing relationships in your life.
And, also note that this tip may sometimes may mean withdrawing from or decreasing contact with those relationships in your life that feel painful, challenging, and unsupportive.
6. Plan play and joy and adventure!
Between the often grueling demands of work and adulting, days can fly, weeks can bleed into one another, and the months pass.
Play, joy, and adventure are fundamental needs most of us have, so intentionally building time and resources into your life to support the pursuit of this is, I believe, wonderful for your overall mental health.
Of course, the way that play, joy, and adventure manifests for each of us will be unique, so find out what sparks your joy, what breaks up your daily routines, and discover what feeds your soul and lights up your life and then do more of it regularly.
7. Create, teach, or serve.
I read somewhere once that ultimately what fulfills the majority of us could be lumped into the categories of creating, teaching, or serving.
So I would encourage you to consider how you can weave one or more of these roles into your life regularly, and/or if you already have this as a part of your life, reconnect back to the part of it that lights you up and inspires you.
8. Spend time in nature.
If there’s a panacea for more ills, I’m not sure what it might be.
Connecting to nature in whatever way feels good to you — be it gardening or sitting in your backyard sunshine, long coastal bike rides, or hikes through your local park — can support mental health in profound ways. Nature is therapeutic so I encourage you to get outside often.
9. Limit time spent on social media. Or be curious about how you can better use it.
I know, I know, no one really likes to hear this and yet we all know it: social media can often have a negative impact on our self-esteem and therefore our mental health.
So be mindful and curious about what impact social media has on you, and if it doesn’t feel supportive, consider limiting time on it, and/or be curious about using it in ways that feel more supportive.
10. Connect to something bigger than yourself.
Whether this is God and Church, AA, Spirit, The Universe, the Women’s Spirituality Movement, or another institution or practice that feeds you, guides you, and inspires you, spending time connecting to something bigger than ourselves and cultivating faith and purpose can often support our mental health significantly.
Whatever your personal preferences or practices, I encourage you to cultivate the role of this in your life as a support for your mental health.
Wrapping up.
Now I’d love to hear from you:
What’s one tip you personally find useful in supporting your own mental health?
Leave a comment below so our community of blog readers can benefit from your wisdom.
Here’s to healing relational trauma and creating thriving lives on solid foundations.
Warmly,
Annie
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is mental health as important as physical health?
Mental health directly shapes your relationships, your ability to be present, your physical wellbeing, and the quality of every decision you make. Ambitious women who neglect mental health often reach external success while struggling internally with anxiety, disconnection, or a persistent sense of not-enoughness.
How do I find the right therapist?
Look for someone trained in relational or trauma-informed approaches. A good fit means you feel safe enough to be honest and challenged enough to grow. Don’t hesitate to shop around — the therapeutic relationship itself is one of the most powerful healing factors.
What are the first signs that my mental health needs more support?
Chronic irritability, persistent low mood, difficulty sleeping, withdrawing from relationships, numbing behaviors, or a sense of going through the motions are all signals worth taking seriously. You don’t need to be in crisis to deserve support.
Can self-care actually improve mental health, or is it just surface-level?
Consistent, genuine self-care — rooted in understanding your nervous system needs — does create measurable changes. The key is moving beyond performative wellness toward practices that address your actual patterns and root causes.
How do I maintain mental health during high-stress work periods?
Prioritize sleep, keep at least one regulating practice daily (movement, time in nature, connection), and resist the urge to defer all self-care until a quieter season arrives. Stress is often self-perpetuating; small daily anchors interrupt the cycle.
DISCLAIMER: The content of this post is for psychoeducational and informational purposes only and does not constitute therapy, clinical advice, or a therapist-client relationship. For full details, please read our Medical Disclaimer. If you are in crisis, please call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line).
You deserve a life that feels as good as it looks. Let’s work on that together.
References
- World Health Organization (2013). Mental health action plan 2013–2020. World Health Organization.
- Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
- Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology.
- Walker, M. (2017). Why we sleep: Unlocking the power of sleep and dreams. Scribner.
- Bratman, G. N., Anderson, C. B., Berman, M. G., Cochran, B., de Vries, S., Flanders, J., … & Daily, G. C. (2019). Nature and mental health: An ecosystem service perspective. Science Advances.
- Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2018). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive Medicine Reports.
- Norcross, J. C., & Lambert, M. J. (2018). Psychotherapy relationships that work III. Psychotherapy.
- Siegel, D. J. (2012). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are. Guilford Press.
- American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
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About the Author
Annie Wright, LMFT
Annie Wright, LMFT helps ambitious women finally feel as good as their resume looks.
As a licensed psychotherapist, trauma-informed executive coach, and relational trauma specialist with over 15,000 clinical hours, she guides ambitious women — including Silicon Valley leaders, physicians, and entrepreneurs — in repairing the psychological foundations beneath their impressive lives. Annie is the founder and former CEO of Evergreen Counseling, a multimillion-dollar trauma-informed therapy center she built, scaled, and successfully exited. A regular contributor to Psychology Today, her expert commentary has appeared in Forbes, Business Insider, Inc., NBC, and The Information. She is currently writing her first book with W.W. Norton.
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