What do you think of when you think of the word “health?” Do you think about your physical or mental health? These are the first two that come to my mind. However, there are many types of health. Years ago, I spoke with someone who was studying what they called “different types of intelligence.” She talked to me about how someone can be musically intelligent or mathematically intelligent.  In a similar way, there are different types of health. A person may have fantastic physical health, but poor financial health. Or vice versa, someone may have solid financial health, but poor physical health. Just as there are different types of intelligence, there are different types of health. For this piece, we will focus on 8 different types of health. They are: emotional health, social health, physical health, spiritual health, intellectual health, environmental health, occupational health and financial health.

As we welcome a new year, it is a good time to assess your health. Consider sitting down for 30 minutes to an hour with paper and a writing utensil, or even a laptop or phone and jot down some notes about your own health while thinking of these categories. You may even want to consider what is going well and what is not going well. For example, for physical health, maybe you are drinking 8 glasses of water each day, but you need to incorporate exercise or stretching into your weekly routine. Or financially, perhaps you have created a budget, but also need to open a savings account. Try to think for each category what is going well and what needs improvement.

I am hoping that most of the categories on this list are pretty self-explanatory; however, I did want to highlight three areas that I think could be confusing. The first is environmental health.  Environmental health is the well-being of your surroundings and the impact they have on you.  If you really think about this one it could include many areas. The top three I think of are my home, my car and my office space. These are three places I spend most of my time. If they are not clean and organized, and I would say even decorated to my liking, they are not contributing to my health.

The second one I want to touch on is occupational health. When you think of occupational health, think of purpose. If you have occupational health, you find meaning and enrichment in your work or career.

The third type of health that I think could sound confusing at first is intellectual health.  Intellectual health means that you are engaging in activities that feed your mind. For example, you may be reading books that challenge you or taking a training that is teaching you a new skill.

I will speak more personally about the 8 different types of health in the next part of the blog on this topic. For now, please take some time to reflect on what is going well for you and what could be better. Our trained and licensed counselors are not doctors or financial advisors; however, they can help with most of these areas of health. They can support you and encourage you as you identify the changes you want to make and begin to work on them. Please contact Life Enhancement Counseling Services at 407-443-8862 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced licensed mental health counselors.