Become your own therapist through literally learning ‘how to be happy’ through applying rational thinking skills. Cool yourself down into a moderate calm thinker with the renowned and powerful Albert Ellis rational thinking table. Use it. Love it. If you accept the theory that our brains have been cobbled together by evolution, and are not … Continue reading
Do you have anxiety? Does your physiological response to ‘stress’ rule your life? So, modern evidence based psychotherapy and neuroscience tells us that when stress becomes a disorder, it causes a shift in thinking, and we develop distorted and negative bad thinking habits, which cause inappropriate emotional and physical and behavioural responses to everyday life. … Continue reading
Common unhelpful thinking habits / irrational cognitions: modern psychotherapy tells us that when stress becomes a disorder it causes a shift in thinking – and we filter and process situations and events though a distorted and gloomy lens. The ‘picture’ is off track – so it is not the situation that is causing our upset, … Continue reading
A SHORT EXERCISE FOR MANAGING ‘EMOTIONAL REASONING’ “I feel bad, therefore it is bad…” Emotional reasoning is one of the most common bad habits. It is when we judge situations according to how we FEEL, not on evidence or rational thinking. But feelings are not facts… Do you fear that you use emotional reasoning too … Continue reading
| An example to show that there are 4 strands to how we feel and what we do: It is thought that anxiety and depression causes a shift in thinking – taking away clarity, and instead hardwiring a distorted negative mental filter (cognition). This causes inappropriate upsettness, both emotional and physical, which in turn causes … Continue reading
… an example handout/worksheet – use it as a template to catch and change your own thinking and behaviour… click on the above image to view/enlarge, then read the below practical guide. Some new self talk suggestions to replace your Negative Automatic thoughts: I am fortune telling something that hasn’t happened yet, and may not … Continue reading
Sucessful CBT requires that we examine our thinking, and that ideally we write things down to help us figure them out. The following ‘self esteem’ exercise is one of the best known with the best results. It allows you to build awareness of possible distortions in the way you perceive yourself, distortions that make you … Continue reading
Freud had a gene for inefficiency, and I think I have a gene for efficiency” ~ Albert Ellis, 1913 to 2007 This photo is Ellis with a patient circa 1940’s – (or it could be his receptionist hamming it up for the shoot). This post introduces you to Albert Ellis and his basic ‘guide to … Continue reading
In these unprecedented times, it’s never been more important to network and communicate effectively. Not just in our personal lives (feeding our social needs by improving our social skills and our experience in a smart way that will enhance our lives), but also for networking, with past and present colleagues/peers and new contacts… which will … Continue reading
Alternative title: ‘HOW TO STOP UPSETTING YOURSELF BY GOING OVER THINGS ENDLESSLY IN YOUR HEAD’ Many of us have busy buzzing heads, constantly visualising past and future events. Sacrificing the here and now by constructing and starring in painful movies in our heads. This is yet another of those primal ‘supposed to be helping us … Continue reading
Mindfulness has proven a wonderful tool in psychotherapy. There are quite a few definitions of it, and methods of using it. For the purpose of this exercise, I’m using it as an ‘all enveloping, thought stopping / relaxation’ method. Many of us are not able to meditate because we have busy heads, with our thoughts … Continue reading
Scroll down for PDF extracts from the CBTandFeelingGood.com workshops / workbooks – for you to use as a self-help resource. Note to therapists: © Veronica Walsh, no re-print or distribution without permission – but ask me if you’d like to use them with your clients, I bet I’ll say yes! (scroll down to make a … Continue reading
Many of today’s mental health experts are recommending Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as a first choice treatment for pretty much all emotional disorders – stress, depression, anxiety, anger management etc.– rather than medication, or spending years undergoing the old style Freudian ‘shrink’ psychiatry. This blog is a free resource to help you to understand and … Continue reading
Low self worth is often a byproduct of anxiety and depression. It is easy to fall into the trap of seeking reassurance endlessly – we might feel that we are only of worth if we are of value to others, or that our worth depends on how others treat us, or that the only way … Continue reading
Is your stress taking over? Here’s how to find out, and fix it. Thousands of Irish people who are suffering from elevated and dangerous levels of stress as a result of the economic crisis are in danger of developing anxiety or depression. The dangers of stress are not widely enough understood – people need to … Continue reading
An exercise in disputing irrational extreme ‘Interview Anxiety’ with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy… Interview Anxiety – A Case Study Click the above table image for easy reading, or download as a PDF handout: CBT_ABCD_InterviewAnxiety On examination, Patricia learns that she has a negative ‘self-talk’ pattern. Her thoughts are absolute and extreme and not quite rational (not … Continue reading
So – you tend to look at life through a gloomy lens with your negative automatic thoughts … You’ve had them forever. They’re part of you. In fact, they have (quite literally!) burned neural pathways in your brain – so they are ‘hard-wired’, and are as ‘auto-pilot’ and involuntary as the process of driving or … Continue reading
