The 10-Step Depression Relief Workbook: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Approach by Simon Rego PsyD & Sarah Fader

Author:Simon Rego PsyD & Sarah Fader [Rego PsyD, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Althea Press
Published: 2017-12-25T18:30:00+00:00

STEP 6

Break Negative Thought Patterns

You’ve made amazing progress. As you’ve moved through this workbook step-by-step, you’ve been gathering clues and gaining skills that are part of the detailed plan to curb your negative thinking, which we’ll cover in this chapter.

A basic ingredient in step 6 is this: Do not try to stop your negative thoughts (see here). This may sound counterintuitive, because you want to be able to change your thoughts. But the way to change negative thinking is to acknowledge the thoughts and work with them rather than fight them. You’ve heard the expression, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” That’s a great way to think about how to deal with your negative thought patterns. You’ll be able to successfully change your thoughts if you recognize them and reframe them the way you’ve been practicing, and then move on. Let’s get to work on this step now.

“Worry and obsession get worse when you try to control your thoughts.”

—Dr. Judith Beck

A Close Look at Creating Thought Records

In step 3, we introduced you to thought records and showed you how to visualize your negative thought processes. You learned that when you see your distorted thinking, you’re better able to confront and deal with it. Now let’s go over the specific steps involved in creating a thought record so that you can become adept at this process.

The following five steps lead you on a fascinating journey from acknowledging the negative thought to changing it to something positive. If you’d like to give this a try right now, you can respond to these questions on the thought-record worksheet. Or you can just read through them and fill out your thought record later.

1.The situation and the emotion. Describe in detail where you were, what happened, and how you felt.

2.Negative thought. What was the first thought that entered your mind? Try not to think too hard about this—just write what popped into your head so you can put a spotlight on your automatic thought. As an aside: What are the benefits of changing negative thinking? Some answers might be: “I’ll feel better about myself,” “My relationships will improve,” “I’ll be able to let go of things instead of obsessing about them,” “My quality of life will be better,” or “I’ll feel happy more often.” Also consider the following:

•Which cognitive distortions are you using in your automatic thought? (See here for a refresher.) These happen when your brain is on autopilot. They aren’t part of you, and you don’t need to feel guilty for having them.

•If you can, trace the automatic thought back to the first time you had it. As discussed in step 5, these thoughts tend to relate to a negative core belief that developed during childhood. Once you find the origin of the thought, question if this thought has helped you or hurt you from the past up until now. How has the thought served you? Is there any benefit to having it? What are the costs if you continue to think that way?

3.

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