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Change Negative Thoughts: DIY Stress Relief

Tuesday 26 December, 2017.

You CAN change negative thoughts

Change negative thoughts and feel better about yourself. Cognitive therapy techniques is about this. Try these 7 ways to untwist your thinking.

And control anxiety, depression, stress and panic.

change negative thoughts

Negative thoughts happen as a result of distorted or twisted thinking and always leave us feeling nervous and insecure. Very often we are unaware of being caught up in negative emotions and skewed thinking and that is where cognitive therapy (CBT) comes in…

CBT teaches you to see things the way they are by changing the way you think and thus helping you to feel more balanced and in control.

Do you react sometimes without thinking?

Do your reactions make you feel lousy?

Are you prone to distorted or skewed thinking?…

Training with a CBT therapist is useful but you can learn the self-help techniques and effectively change negative thoughts

Do this test to see if you fall in to any of the emotional traps that lead to negative thoughts…


Remember

Much of the stress you suffer from
is because of the way you perceive situations…

Things are NOT always as you see them.

Sometimes you get the wrong end of the stick!

How often have you reacted to something and got into a panic
and stressed out only to find that the reality was not nearly as bad as it first appeared to be?…

Panic attack wasted!

 


When you feel bad your thinking becomes negative…

Dr. Burns, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia explains the ABC of emotion:

  • ‘A’ stands for the Actual event
  • ‘B’ for your Beliefs about it
  • ‘C’ for the Consequences you experience because of your beliefs. …

Cognitive therapy tries to

  • change the Bs – your beliefs – so that you…
  • don’t experience the Cs – the negative consequences…

If you can prevent random negative beliefs from forming around an actual event, you have gone a long way toward protecting yourself from unnecessary negative emotions that are sure to follow such distorted thinking.

Here’s how to cope…

Seven Tips to Change Negative Thoughts

  1. Examine the Evidence

    Take in the big picture. Write it down if you have to. Your partner accuses you of being a lousy homemaker. You used to cook regularly, keep things in their place and visit the in-laws. Since you returned to work you get home late and don’t feel up to it. Of course you can’t see to home work as you used to. You are not being slack, you have less time and energy. Seeing the bigger picture is a good way to change negative thoughts.
  2. Talk To Yourself As You Would To a Friend

    Suppose a friend got retrenched from her job and was feeling useless, unappreciated and a failure. What would you say to her? Probably something like: “You are not a failure, it is happening to many people and has nothing to do with your performance. You are a capable and creative person. You have been down before and made it up again. I know you will be okay.” Tell yourself the same sort of things.
  3. Look For Partial Success

    Instead of thinking that your marriage was a complete failure, consider the many ways it was successful: You supported each other through studies and both have more fulfilling careers as a result. You have two great kids, and the problems that led to your break-up have given you valuable insights into what to look for in a future relationship. It is possible to change negative thoughts in any situation.
  4. Define Your Terms

    You fail your driving test. You are useless. Define useless. The dictionary says ‘serving no useful purpose’. That isn’t you. There are many things you can do but driving needs a bit more attention. You just have to try again. If you can change negative thoughts, your whole attitude changes.
  5. Take a Survey

    Your mom phones to ask if she can come and spend the week with you. It is a very busy time of the month and you have deadlines to meet at work. You ask her to postpone the visit until your work load is lighter. You hear that she calls you selfish and uncaring. After a heated discussion with her on the phone, your confidence is shaken. Perhaps you are uncaring. Now’s the time to call a few friends and solicit their views. Chances are that they will say you were justified. Don’t fall into the trap of someone elses negative emotions.
  6. Experiment

    See how this negative thinking about yourself in one area compares to your behaviour in other areas. Your ex called you selfish for wanting to keep the house. But are you really? If you were selfish you wouldn’t give credit to the group for shared successes, you wouldn’t help friends in need, you wouldn’t serve on the local civic council, you’re not entirely selfish. You may not be as big-hearted as you would like to be but you are not the unfeeling witch that your ex says you are. If you change how you see the picture then you change negative emotions that go with it.
  7. Solve the Problem

    You blew up when you came home early from work and found your ex housemate unexpectedly in your house. Since that ugly scene you have been thinking that your “terrible temper” has turned you into a “monster.” Possibly, but the problem in this case is not your temper. The real problem is that your ex housemate still has keys to your house. So solve the problem. Change the locks.

As with all good habits, to change negative thoughts takes practice. But it is really worth it!

If negative thoughts do creep in and you are flooded with unpleasant emotions…

Then what? …

Cognitive therapy calls for tackling the problem in seven easy steps. Click here to read more…

The most exciting part is when you automatically start to see things from a different point of view and your mental health takes care of itself…

So stand back, and look at the bigger picture before you get caught up in twisted thinking and negative emotions which send your stress and anxiety levels soaring.

Next time your kid, or a friend, comes to you in a state of emotional anxiety, use your cognitive therapy skills, talk them through the experience and help them change negative emotions into more realistic ways of coping.

Recommended Reads

  

Some Tips

    • Want more passion in your life? Change the energy template in your living space and attract what you are looking for. Click here for fun ideas!
    • Remember to breathe…Slowly and Consciously! …All stress relief, including the relaxation response begins with the breath!

 

Go from Change Negative thoughts to More About Cognitive Therapy

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