Thought Stopping Technique

Thought stopping is a cognitive behavioral therapy technique that can help anyone break free of continuous thoughts that may cause anxiety by using awareness and practice to change these thoughts.  Thought stopping can be a quick and effective method to distract yourself from your own anxiety by thinking about something else. One can practice thought stopping whenever anxious thoughts start to ruminate in one's mind. Once mastered, you will fill more in control of your thoughts and be able to stop anxious thoughts on command.

Here are some steps to practice thought stopping:

1. Think about what anxious thoughts you have struggled with or are currently struggling with and identify them so that you can have more awareness regarding your own anxiety.
2. Prepare a calming thought ahead of time that you will be able to use in times of anxiety.  For example, "I am peaceful and safe," "I'm on a beach and feel the sand under my feet," or "I am confident."
3. Be aware of your anxious thought.
4. Immediately tell yourself "STOP" in your mind.  For visual thinkers, you may want to visualize a stop sign and for kinesthetic thinkers, you may want to wear a rubber band and gently snap it on your wrist.
5. Exchange your anxious thought for a neutral/ calming thought.  The new thought can either be a general pre-planned thought or you can replace your current thought with something more accepting. For example, if you are anxious on a flight with turbulance and are thinking the plane is going down, a replacement thought could be "That was a bump in the road, we are in good hands with the pilot."
6. Continue to repeat your new thought in your mind, or even out loud if you need, until the anxious thought is extinguished.

Remember for this technique to work, you need to practice the technique! Also, if one visual or statement is not working for you, you may need to try different ones until you find what works best for you.

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Switch Gears: Assessing Your Feelings & Actions

Auto-pilot is something that happens to us on a daily basis because as humans we thrive on routines and schedules. Have you ever thought to yourself: How did I get here? When did I make that sandwich I just ate? Did I lock the door?  These are all typical questions we might ask ourselves when we are on auto-pilot. Based on our over-scheduled lives, auto-pilot helps us function and perform some of our most basic human habits.  However, sometimes auto-pilot can be a bad thing because we forget that we actually have a brain that can switch to a manual shift mode, especially in regards to our mood.  So often we are unaware of the connection between our feelings and our actions.  One goal of counseling is to shine the light on this connection so that we may utilize this connection to make powerful changes in our daily lives. Counseling tries to change your mindset from automatic to manual transmission so that you can make necessary tweaks and gear changes in your life.

Here is a basic awareness activity that anyone can try if they want to become more aware of the connection between how they feel and what they do:

First, identify what happened and your current feeling.  Make sure you use a "feeling" word, sometimes we have a difficult time even identifying our feelings because we tend to suppress them so often.  Feelings include happy, worried, annoyed, mad, excited, upset, sad, bored, sick, glad, scared, nervous, etc.
Example: I noticed dirty dishes in the sink and I feel annoyed.

Second, think about why you feel this way.  Did someone say something? Did something happen? Why are you currently feeling the way you are?
Example: I feel annoyed because I hate dirty dishes in the sink and my husband never puts them in the dishwasher.

Next, think about what you did about it, if anything.
Example: I yelled at him that it was disgusting to leave dishes in the sink and that we were getting fruit flies in the house.  After that, I stormed off into our bedroom and slammed the door.

Finally, think of something else that you could have done.  Try to think of alternatives that may be out of character or that would have made the outcome different.  Sometimes an alternative might include asking for help, doing something else, taking deep breaths, walking away, or talking to a friend.
Example:  I could have washed the dishes.  I could have asked my husband to put his dirty dishes in the dishwasher.  I could have left the dishes and thought oh well, it's not the worst thing.

The above steps can be used for any feeling or action.  Go ahead, put yourself in manual transmission mode and give it a try! You may be surprised by the results of what awareness can do for you.

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Coping with Anxiety | World of Psychology

One of my earlier blog posts was also published on the World of Psychology Blog, see it below:



Coping with Anxiety | World of Psychology



Brought to you by www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.  Thrive Counseling Center LLC provides therapy and counseling to individuals, families, couples, and groups in Metairie, LA.

National Institute of Mental Health: Anxiety & Depression Resources

The National Institute of Mental Health has great resources on their website regarding mental health issues. Here are a few links to resources regarding Anxiety and Depression:

Anxiety Disorders Booklet:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/nimhanxiety.pdf

Depression Booklet:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression/depression-booklet.pdf

Women and Depression Booklet:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/women-and-depression-discovering-hope/depression-what-every-woman-should-know.pdf

Depression and High School Students Fact Sheet:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-and-high-school-students/depression-high-school-students.pdf

Depression in Children and Adolescents Fact Sheet:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-in-children-and-adolescents/depression-in-children-and-adolescents.pdf

Postpartum Depression Brochure:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/postpartum-depression-facts/postpartum-depression-brochure.pdf

Brought to you by www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.