Tag: cognitive-behavioural therapy

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Life in General

Do you suffer from anxiety or depression?

If so, how healthy are your thoughts?

These days most of us are conscious of our health and we do a great deal to ensure that we stay well. We watch our diet, many of us exercise regularly, and we know we need to get good quality sleep.

But how many of us are aware that to we need to watch what we think as well to protect our mental health?

In my psychology practice I am very aware that few people monitor their thinking. In fact, many people are of the view that the thoughts that go through their minds are outside of their control.

Individuals who are prone to anxiety thing a great many “what if” thoughts during the day, such as “what if I mess up during my exam”, whilst people who suffer from depression tend to ruminate excessively.

These types of thought patterns serve to “feed” anxiety and depression.

It is possible to gain control of your thoughts through CBT (cognitive-behavioural therapy). This will enable you to break the cycle of anxious and negative thinking.

There was an interesting article on the Psychology Today facebook page today, which speaks about the serious consequences to one’s mental health of negative thinking habits:

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/words-can-change-your-brain/201208/the-most-dangerous-word-in-the-world?

Steering away from negative thinking towards a positive mindset is the subject of Positive Psychology.

If you would like to be happier, more optimistic and hence more psychologically resilient I recommend that you embrace the principles of Positive Psychology.

Wouldn’t this be a great way to begin 2020 (and enjoy the festive season)?

Categories
Life in General Psychology in practice

Do you feel optimistic or pessimistic about the year ahead and about the future in general?

If your thoughts are somewhat bleak when you think about the future, this can lead to depression!

Some very interesting research has recently been published on the subject of the link between how we think about the future (known as prospection) and our mood states (Roepke and Seligman, 2015). Up to now there has been a generally accepted view that a pessimistic view of the future is a pointer for someone who is depressed – that depression causes a person to have negative expectations about the future.

However, it seems that it may also be the other way around – that if we harbour overly pessimistic views and expectations of our future, this could cause us to become (more) depressed!

So why is this new finding important?

Well, the good news is that if our thoughts influence our moods (and they do, according to Cognitive-Behavioural theory and Therapy (CBT), we can change these moods by altering our thinking! The implication of this is that our emotions are under our own control (to a certain degree).

How can prospection affect our emotions and possibly lead to depression?

These researchers have identified three ways this happens:

  1. Telling ourselves different scenarios about possible futures. If you think about your future, do you foresee good or bad things occurring? Are there more positive predictions than negative ones, or vice versa?
  2. Judging your possible future life in either a positive or a negative way. You might say, for example, that you predict that you either have a number of positive options which could enable you to have a bright future or you believe that you have few options for the future and that you will inevitably have nothing much to look forward to.
  3. Harbouring either positive or negative beliefs about the future. These would include beliefs or thoughts about a personal future, but also about the future of the country and the planet as a whole).

 

In my next post I will discuss ways in which our patterns of prospective thinking can be altered to become more positive and optimistic.

 

Categories
Life in General Psychology in practice

Do you expect too much (or too little) in life? Don’t underestimate the importance of your expectations!

Time and time again in my psychology practice I am told by my clients that one of the most useful things they have got out of coming for psychotherapy or counselling is my highlighting the role that our expectations play in our lives.

Why are our expectations so important?

I have found that faulty and unrealistic expectations underlie many of the issues that bring clients into therapy. Anger, frustration, depression and anxiety often a result of expectations that are out of sync with reality. For example, clients with anger and frustration problems will invariably think  ” X should or shouldn’t act in a certain way” or in the case of road rage “that type of behaviour should not be allowed on the road” If you commonly use the words “Should”, “must”, “always” and “never” in your internal dialogue this is a sign that you are setting yourself up for frustration and anger, which is of course ultimately self-defeating and also potentially damaging to your health in the long-term!

Anxiety, on the other hand, is caused when we predict some dire event occuring at some time in the future – the “what …if” scenarios. When we get depressed we expect that nothing is going to improve and that we will always feel the same way as we do in the moment, which is, of course, also highly unlikely and unrealistic.

And then there are the cases of self-fulfilling prophecies when we predict some dire outcome and then unconsciously act in a way that brings these into being!

As most of the expectations that we harbour operate on a totally unconscious level, these tend to influence our behaviour and our moods largely outside our awareness. This dynamic forms the basis of cognitive-behavoural therapy, or CBT, which has been found to be extremely effective in enabling individuals to improve their moods and thus also their general wellbeing.

So I suggest that you do some self-reflection – get in touch with your expectations and think about how they influence your life and your relationships!

 

 

Categories
Life in General

Battling to Cure your Insomnia? Maybe you are trying too hard?!

Most of us get told from an early age that to succeed at anything important in life you need to work at it!

However, there are a number of aspects of life where trying really hard is actually counterproductive – think of the quest for happiness, being more spontaneous or more laid-back as cases in point! For some women, attempting to fall pregnant falls into this category too!

Insomnia also falls into this category. Clients in my psychology practice who are plagued by insomnia usually report that they “battle” to fall asleep and when they wake up in the night there main focus is to try to fall asleep again. Usually their insomnia is linked to an “overactive mind” which goes round and round in endless ruminations about all current worries and problems facing the individual. Usually I get told by most insomnia-prone clients that they feel unable to “turn-off” this habit.

 

How do I help clients with insomnia problems?

 

First I tell people about the paradoxical nature of insomnia  – Of course it is important to practice the basin tenets of good sleep hygiene such as having a regular bed-time routine, not drinking any beverages containing stimulants such as caffeine for a few hours before bedtime and arranging to sleep in a dark, well-ventilated room on a good mattress but then to also  “go with the flow” as far as sleep is concerned – to learn to practice good relaxation techniques and guided visualisation so that they are able to move your thoughts towards the enjoyment of being comfortable in a favourite place such as, for example, a beach or somewhere associated with a pleasant childhood memory. Cognitive-behavioural therapy skills are also very helpful.

If this rings true for you I suggest that you resolve to declare your bed a “no-worry zone” –  as soon as you take your feet off the floor to get into your bed you decide to shelve all your fears and problems to being considered anew the next morning.

 

This is something that you CAN improve at with practice!

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
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!