As a clinical psychologist who practices CBT, I’m focused on helping therapy clients explore the relationship between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. I’ve written about some of these ideas and techniques in articles about automatic thoughts, distorted thinking, and how to use mindfulness and thought records to recognize and challenge unhelpful thoughts. In addition toContinue reading “Thanking Your Mind: An ACT Technique for Coping with Unhelpful Thoughts”
Tag Archives: automatic thoughts
You are probably doing better than you think.
If you are a person who tends to get down on themselves and beat themselves up, this post is for you. I know you might not believe me, but…you are probably doing better than you think. I know you feel like you’re never good enough and you never will be, but…you are probably doing betterContinue reading “You are probably doing better than you think.”
Give Yourself Permission to Suck in 2020
There is a no rule that says you have to be perfect right out the gate, such as on the first day of school or work or trying a new exercise or project or undertaking. But sometimes our critics – both self-imposed and external – will tell us we don’t have the right to aContinue reading “Give Yourself Permission to Suck in 2020”
Build Your Flexible Thinking Muscles With This Simple Tool
I recently wrote about all or nothing thinking (also known as “black or white thinking”), and the negative impact that rigid, inflexible thought patterns can have on a person’s well-being. In the aforementioned blog post, I discussed mindfulness as a powerful, key tool for challenging these types of distorted thoughts. In short: by using mindfulness,Continue reading “Build Your Flexible Thinking Muscles With This Simple Tool”
The #1 Tool for Challenging All or Nothing Thinking
With me it’s all er nuthin’Is it all er nuthin’ with you?It cain’t be “in between”It cain’t be “now and then”No half and half romance will do! – Lyrics by Richard Rodgers, from the musical Oklahoma! When I was in the sixth grade, my class staged a production of the musical Oklahoma! It’s amazing theContinue reading “The #1 Tool for Challenging All or Nothing Thinking”
“Thought Records Don’t Work on Me.” The Second Secret Weapon That Interrupts Distorted Thinking
“Thought records don’t work on me.” Wanna know who said that? Me. So why did I write an entire post on how to complete a thought record last week? Because they’re an extremely important tool that can help you challenge distorted thoughts. 100 percent. AND… A thought record is not a magic pill that willContinue reading ““Thought Records Don’t Work on Me.” The Second Secret Weapon That Interrupts Distorted Thinking”
Using Thought Records to Challenge Distorted Thinking: A Step-By-Step Guide
A thought record is a major tool in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that guides us, step by step, through the process of challenging distorted, automatic thoughts. If you’ve been following my recent blog posts, you’ll know that in order to even recognize automatic thoughts as they’re occurring, you first need to practice mindfulness. You’ll alsoContinue reading “Using Thought Records to Challenge Distorted Thinking: A Step-By-Step Guide”
Harnessing the Power of Automatic Thoughts
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) operates on the general principle that our thoughts influence our feelings, and our feelings influence our behaviors. Thoughts –> Feelings –> Behaviors For example, a person could have the thought: “I suck at my job.” This creates feelings of sadness, anger, hopelessness. Now in this negative emotional state, in the personContinue reading “Harnessing the Power of Automatic Thoughts”
Gina Davis, PsyD 