August e-news

Dr Suzy Green

Welcome back! As winter comes to an end, this is a great opportunity to practice the art of savouring, being the awareness of pleasure and the deliberate conscious attention to the experience of pleasure . Focus your attention on the warmth of an open fire, the full flavour of a South Australian red, the melting moment of a marshmallow in hot chocolate and the feeling of cold air on your face as you take a brisk walk to start your day!

Last month I suggested you monitor any ANTS (automatic negative thoughts) that you might be experiencing and to specifically identify different types of thinking errors such as “catastrophising” eg “It was a total disaster!” In most cases, situations are rarely a total disaster and even when life brings trauma, there are many individuals that remain resilient in the face of such adversity (read Frankl's “Man's Search for Meaning”). Often these individuals think differently. Their self-talk supports their mental health and their ability to bounce-back!

This month I'll provide you with some tools to help you challenge any ANTS (irrational or unhelpful thinking) from a cognitive-behavioural approach or alternatively to put some space between you and your unwanted thoughts from an acceptance and commitment approach.

Month 8 – Positive Thinking - Part 4 – Thinking Differently!

A common strategy that is utilized in CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) is to challenge and replace any irrational or unhelpful thinking. To do this, it's useful to have an armoury, if you like, of challenging questions that we can use to dispute the ANTS. I have listed some commonly used ones below:

1. Which thinking error are you engaging in? It is labelling, all-or-nothing thinking, or are you perhaps catastrophising?
2. How much do you believe in this thought?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this thought?
4. What is the evidence for and against this thought? Could you convince a jury that your negative interpretation is the best or only valid one?
5. What if the thought is true? Why would that bother you?
6. Even if the thought is true, could you think of other positive behaviours that you might engage in despite this?
7. If your best buddy had this problem, what advice would you give?
8. If someone else had this problem, would you judge him as negatively as you judge yourself? Why or why not?
9. How many times in the past have you had this kind of thought? Have you ever been wrong?
10. Is there something you could do to determine if this thought is true?
11. If the thought is true, are there some things you can do to improve the situation?
12. Is this thought helping me? THE KEY QUESTION!!

This Month's Action Plan – Think Differently!

Start to challenge any ANTS you might be having by using the above questions. You can use the Thought Record I have referred to in earlier e-news (or email me for a copy) to assist in identifying, challenging and replacing your ANTS. Write up a rational or adaptive response to the ANT eg “This is not a pleasant situation however it's not a complete disaster!” or “This is a great opportunity for me to put my thinking skills into practice”.

In coaching, we often turn our ANTS into our PETS (performance enhancing thoughts). That means asking yourself the question “How would I need to be thinking to a) feel differently in this situation or b) behave differently in this situation”.

You might like to identify 3-5 short, snappy PETS for a specific challenging situation you are currently experiencing and then write these down on a yellow sticky placed in a highly visible position to remind you of how you need to be thinking to feel and behave differently. For example, if you wanted to improve your self-confidence in giving presentations at work then a PET such as “I have done the necessary preparation for this talk” or “I've given talks like this on a number of occasions before” might help. Repeating the PETS over and over again prior to the situation can powerfully affect how you feel and behave in that situation.

From an ACT perspective, it is often suggested that you practice “cognitive defusing”, which simply means gaining some psychological space between the ANT and yourself ie YOU ARE NOT YOUR ANTS! This means learning to be an observer of your ANTS without buying into them as truths. There are many techniques that ACT therapists use to do this. One example is the “milk technique”. This involves repeating the word ‘‘milk'' once and to notice all of the functions that occur when it is heard (e.g. creamy, white, cold). Then repeat the word ‘‘milk'' out loud as quickly as possible for a minute and start to notice what happens. You will find that the meaning of the word milk begins to disappear (e.g. ‘‘the word milk did not mean anything. It became just a sound.''). You can then try and apply this technique to ANTS whereby these negative thoughts are seen simply as words, without becoming attached to the meaning we subscribe to them that often results in a negative emotional state.

Next Month...

I will be discussing research on mindfulness and the benefits of being present.

“The ability to perceive or think differently is more important than the knowledge gained”
David Bohm (1917 - 1992) American Physicist & Philosopher

Dr Suzy Green

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