Thought Distortions
One of the strategies of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is to help the client identify and question thought distortions. We all have a few thought distortions that may lead us to questionable conclusions and behaviors. The distortions most often focused on in CBT are those we have about ourselves.
It is simpler to explain distortions in thinking with examples. The following are some common thinking patterns people use.
Emotional Reasoning: We may confuse a feeling with a fact.
STRESS !!!
What is stress?
Stress is the brain and body’s response to any sort of demand. Stress is a common process that occurs daily in people’s lives. Many situations trigger a stress response. Certainly change of any kind can precipitate stress; divorce, illness, vacations, the holidays. Recurrent activities can be included as stress inducing; commuting to work or school and driving are examples of recurrent situations in people’s lives. The change can be mild and harmless or extreme and violent.
The Map Is Not the Territory
Alfred Koryzbski a Polish philosopher, engineer, mathematician, and writer who emigrated to the United States, and died here in 1950, is best known for the idea that the word for a thing is not the thing. Hence the quote, “The map is not the territory.”
His book Science and Sanity is a dense, difficult but thoroughly interesting book that pulls in many disciplines of study. He repeatedly hammers again and again on the notion that a word cannot do the thing justice,
Self-Esteem, Self-Worth, and Core Beliefs
What is Self-Esteem?
Self-esteem is the value we place on ourselves or parts of ourselves. Value is often culturally determined. That is, in some cultures it is valuable to have a college education, and in others it is valuable to be an active member of the social structure of the town or village. How we physically look, perform at work or school, or our financial net worth are a few of the parts of ourselves we and others judge.
Habits and Coupled Relationships
Humans are habitual creatures. We develop habits almost immediately upon birth. Things like feeding times, play time, brushing our teeth, getting up, and so on. Some habits are beneficial and some habits are meant to be left behind. All habits have a couple of things in common, once a habit develops, it is not fully in our awareness anymore, and it is hard to change.
Just as individuals develop habits,
What is hypnosis? What is clinical hypnosis?
Most likely the first thought on people’s mind when hypnosis is discussed is something like, “Will it make me quack like a duck? Will I do something to embarrass myself? Will I do something I am unaware of later? Will I know what is happening?”
Hypnosis is most often associated with habit reduction. “Will hypnosis make me stop . . . smoking, overeating, drinking too much?”
What is hypnosis?
Understanding Depressing
Depression is a worldwide public health issue. Unipolar depression is ranked second in a ranking of disabling diseases in westernized countries, and is projected to reach the same ranking world wide by 2020.
*Average age of first onset of major depression: 25-29
*Likelihood of a second or more episodes of major depression: 80%
*Likelihood of a second or more episodes of minor depression: 100%
*Median number of major depressive episodes during a person’s lifetime: 4
What is going on?
What is Behavioral Addiction?
The information in this blog post will be further developed, and become available under Articles on this website.
The question of whether a behavior can be considered an addiction is being talked about and studied more than ever by the scientific community. In the practice and research of psychology, behavioral addiction(s) are even entering into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.
Everything changes, nothing remains without change. Buddha
Life is constant change, and as we breathe we are in constant transformation. Change can be stressful, especially when the change is sudden and unexpected.
Change is also exciting. Sometimes we try to avoid change. We want things to stay the same. Just as often change brings fun, excitement, and reward.
Humans are bound by time, and as time passes we change, our families change,
Gifts to give the one you love, without spending a dime.
Listening.
Quietly attentive, whether sitting, standing, lying down, or walking. Eyes on or toward the speaker; fully focused on them. Non-verbal communication; a nod of the head, raised brows, a smile or a frown, head tilted toward the speaker.
Repeat back to them what you think you heard. Verbal communication; agreement, concern, interest, understanding.
Kindness.
