Tag: CBT

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Life in General Mindfulness Psychology in practice

How do you protect your mental health from the spectre of the coronavirus?

With all the world-wide mass-hysteria and panic that has accompanied the imminent threat of the coronavirus,  I have been wondering how we all as individuals have been coping on a day to day basis!?

Of course we each have our own coping styles when it comes to dealing with stress and anxiety. However, the coronavirus threat is something so out of the normal range of stressors that we routinely have to deal with, and is causing such major disruption in so many areas of life on a global scale, that it is challenging each of our inner resources and resiliency to the maximum.

The ubiquitous news updates of the world-wide spread of the virus serves to make us as individuals feel personally vulnerable, insecure and unsafe, which fuels a feeling of anxiety, depression and hopelessness, especially in those of us who are prone to anxiety and depression. 

So what can each of us do to mitigate against the psychological effects presented by the spread of the coronavirus?

  1. Manage your anxiety by practicing CBT techniques such as monitoring your thoughts for patterns of “what if” thoughts that lead to heightened anxiety and challenge catastophizing thoughts about worst-case scenarios.
  2. Practice mindfulness and relaxation techniques to focus on the present moment and to calm your mind.
  3. Manage any depressed or hopeless thoughts by challenging their validity and usefulness. Don’t allow yourself to sink into a “doom-and gloom” mind-set. Internalise the principles of Positive Psychology by working on your stress management and psychological resilience.
  4. Adopt a solutions-focused “how” approach to the problems presented by the coronavirus. We as humans are amazingly inventive and adaptable. Use this ability to the fullest and this will increase your sense of personal control and positive self-esteem.
  5. Remember that “this too shall pass”.  Adopting a pragmatic approach and conveying this to your family and friends, will not only help you personally but perhaps you can also make a positive difference to the mental health of those closest to you.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any queries or comments!

 

 

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Life in General Mindfulness Psychology in practice

Perfectionism: Are you the perfect perfectionist?

And is it working for you?

Perfectionists are invariably high achievers as they are usually single-minded in their determination to be the best at everything they undertake. Perfectionists are highly motivated and goal directed and usually do well at work as a result. For this reason, society and bosses, value perfectionists.

So why can perfectionism become a problem?

Perfectionists tend to see things in terms of black and white – only 100% (or even 110%) is seen as good enough. Small mistakes are often catastrophised as failure. Perfectionists tend to drive themselves ruthlessly, often resulting in burnout and health problems, such as high blood pressure and cardiac problems.

Individuals prone to perfectionistic thinking also suffer from high levels of anxiety and depression. They tend to worry excessively about making mistakes – being five minutes late for work can be viewed as a major disaster!

For this reason perfectionists often consider psychotherapy to help them to overcome and manage their symptoms and to make desired  changes to their lifestyle so they are able to feel less burned out and exhausted.

Why is perfectionism such a hard nut to crack when there are such obvious benefits to moderating this behaviour pattern?

Perfectionists try hard to achieve in everything they set out to do – however, trying hard to become less of a perfectionist creates a paradox – a bit like trying hard to sleep or to relax! I point out to my perfectionist clients that, if they are convinced that curbing their perfectionistic tendencies will lead to greater happiness that they will need to learn the cognitive skills that will allow them to revise their all-or-nothing thinking and to control and calm their minds. Useful approaches in this regard include cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), relaxation and mindfulness training.

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Life in General Managing stress Psychology in practice

Cognitive-Behaviour (Behavior) Therapy: Very effective for stress and Anxiety!

If you are suffering from study pressure, exam stress, or general stress or anxiety….

Cognitive-behaviour (behavior) therapy, or CBT has been to be extremely effective. It is called an evidence-based treatment approach as large, well-controlled studies have proved its effectiveness – both here and overseas.

How does it work?

We all have a stream of thoughts going through our minds every moment of our waking lives. We are continuously having an internal dialogue with ourselves (some of us have this conversation out loud sometimes which can cause other people to look at us funny!).

These thoughts that we have are not necessarily reflecting the truth about things – they are merely our own “take” on life, and can be right, wrong, accurate or inaccurate.

Unfortunately, though, we tend to regard our thoughts as true, and as our thought affect our emotions, we can start to feel very bad – based only on our unreliable thoughts!

For example: if you always anticipate that awful things could happen in the future – your thoughts are often starting with “what  if”…you will undoubtedly feel anxious a great deal of the time!

People usually only dwell on the negative possibilities – like failing (if you are a student) or getting caught in a lift (if you are claustrophobic). Not many people have anxiety about winning the lottery!

CBT helps individuals recognise and alter unhelpful and innacurate thinking patterns so that they can begin to live happier and more mindful lives, free from debilitating anxiety and depression.

If you would like to experience CBT, please contact us!