Cognitive Restructuring Part 2

Learn how to restructure your thoughts. Let's rework those thoughts that are unhelpful to your life! Learn how the process to change your thought patterns to improve your mood, perspective, relationships, self-image, and MORE!

Transcript

Welcome to Cognitive Restructuring with Sarah Nielsen.

I am an LPC,

Which is a licensed practicing counselor of about 17 years.

I'm licensed in Missouri,

Kansas,

And Alabama.

I am also an RYT 200,

Which is a registered yoga teacher,

200-hour training.

And cognitive restructuring is a big part of therapy that I do with people,

As well as practicing it with myself.

So I'm going to do a brief recap of part one,

But we're not going to go into much into it too much.

I want to move into part two.

And so the cycle as human beings is we have thoughts which generate feelings.

Those feelings generate behaviors,

Decisions,

Choices,

Which lead to outcomes,

Okay?

So in my mind,

You go back to the beginning of the cycle.

That's how you change it.

You interrupt it.

You start at A.

And so this is a three-step process for restructuring your thoughts.

So why would you restructure your thoughts?

Well,

Because it improves your mood.

It improves your outlook.

It improves your relationships.

It improves your self-esteem,

Your self-worth,

And I can keep going.

It aids in your emotional regulation.

Lots of things,

Okay?

So there's very important reasons for doing this.

And the last thing I want to reinforce again before we get into new material is I want to reinforce the fact that this requires diligence and consistency.

You may feel frustrated,

And that is okay.

Welcome it.

Accept it,

Okay?

You may not believe the new thoughts when they come,

And that is all right,

Too.

You will believe them with time.

And so whether you believe them or not,

I want you to keep saying them because you did not believe the negative thoughts in the beginning either.

It comes with repetition.

We are creating new habits,

And we are undoing long,

Excuse me,

Long-standing thought patterns.

I'm gonna take a quick drink.

Hold on.

Many of us,

These thought patterns have been around for a long time.

They may have came from experiences in our life.

They may have come from traumas.

They may have came from things we've said to ourselves over time,

Things peers have said,

Loved ones.

And,

You know,

Obviously we're targeting the unhelpful thought patterns.

The thought patterns that are encouraging,

Rational,

Helpful,

Positive,

We want to leave those right where they are,

Right?

We want to work on the ones that,

Frankly,

Make us feel bad.

Or maybe you notice because you were thinking negatively it shifted your day.

Maybe it shifted your mood.

Maybe it shifted how you spoke to other people.

So we want to target the thoughts that are unhelpful.

That's a big,

Broad word to describe them.

Unhelpful.

Okay,

So remember our three-step process is,

One,

We must observe our thoughts.

Two,

We label them.

Three,

We replace them.

So I want to take some time and talk about thought observation.

One,

I highly recommend that people take a period of one to two weeks of simply observing,

Doing nothing else but observing their thoughts,

Not labeling them,

Not changing them,

Just paying attention to them.

This is a statement that I say.

You cannot change what you do not recognize.

And during this observation period,

This is a great time for you to make notes.

Pardon me,

For you to make notes and to write down what I refer to as your top hits.

So what are top hits?

Well,

That means the thoughts that you have most commonly,

Okay?

We all have those common thoughts.

We have those ones that kind of linger and like to stick around and like to put their self on the playlist often,

Right?

So I highly recommend that you take one to two weeks of simply observing your thoughts,

Okay?

And make note of them.

Here are some things that you can do during your observation time.

You can create a table and in this table you would write the day.

So for example,

Sunday.

And then in that row going across,

Here's your boxes.

The actual thought,

The trigger,

How it made you feel,

And the strength of the thought.

So notice we're not labeling,

We're not changing.

So you pick the day of the week,

The actual thought.

I'm gonna default to the easy one.

I am such a loser,

Okay?

That's the actual thought.

What was the trigger?

Well,

The trigger can be different sources.

And this is really important to think about because we are often unaware of our triggers.

That's why this observation period is so important as well.

It is important for us to think about something and to reflect and to gain insight.

Insight is power.

Knowledge is power.

And so a trigger could be maybe you made a mistake at work or in your classes.

Maybe you forgot to do something.

Maybe you forgot to pay something.

Maybe you said something you wish you hadn't said.

Anything like that.

And if you don't know a trigger,

Leave that box blank.

Then in the next box,

Again during your observation period,

I want you to write about how they made you feel.

You don't have to write a lot.

Remember these are just little boxes going across and you're just making brief notes.

So I thought to myself,

I am such a loser.

And I identified my trigger as I got a poor grade on an exam.

I'm making up examples here.

And so how did that make me feel?

It made me feel anxious,

Overwhelmed,

And bad about myself.

So I would just jot down a couple of things.

Now,

What is the strength of that thought?

So what does that mean?

That means how much did you believe it?

How much did you believe that thought?

Rate it 1 to 10.

10 being the most believable.

And so you would put a number there.

An 8.

Whatever it may be.

So that is observation.

So again,

I recommend that you take a observation period of one to two weeks where you are simply observing your thoughts.

You're using that observation chart.

And you're learning your quote-unquote top hits,

Okay?

Then you will also use step one as you move forward,

Right?

Because as you move forward in the process,

You can't replace the thoughts unless you've observed the thoughts.

So observation period.

And then observation happens in your day-to-day cognitive restructuring,

Okay?

So let's pretend I'm out of my observation period.

Now I'm into my working period.

So I'm going through my day and I catch this thought,

Oh,

You're so fat.

You're so fat,

Okay?

That's my thought.

Now I'm not gonna judge my thought,

Okay?

I'm not gonna say I'm so stupid for thinking that because that's just a double whammy,

Okay?

I want to take a non-judgmental stance.

I want a objective label.

That was a degrading thought.

Again,

Notice I didn't say I'm degrading myself or I thought degrading.

I am giving myself some distance so I can further work with the thought.

The more distance we have,

The more we can work with them.

So I have the thought,

I am so fat.

I catch it.

I say,

Oh,

Okay.

Here's my opportunity to do something,

Right?

And then I say to myself,

Okay,

That was a degrading thought.

And then I'm gonna move into step three.

Okay?

So I want to say a couple more things about do not judge your thought.

So another way to kind of get distance from your thought is to almost view it on a movie screen.

Get some distance from it.

We want to use objective labels.

Objective labels.

And I think that's all I want to say about the second step,

Okay?

So let's move to the third step.

So we have noticed the thought.

We have put a label on the thought.

And now we're ready to replace the thought.

And again,

Remember,

It does not have to be a opposite statement.

I am so fat does not have to be I am so thin.

It can be I am worthwhile.

It can be I appreciate my body.

It can be something you love about your body.

I'm just giving some examples.

So I also want to say after you've done step one,

Two,

And three,

Repeat,

Repeat,

Repeat.

Because again,

Our brains are stubborn.

So if you had the thought I am so fat,

And then 10 minutes later,

You had the same thought,

Please do not think that this doesn't work.

Because that's not accurate.

This process works.

You have to repeat it.

You have to be consistent and diligent.

Repeat,

Repeat,

Repeat.

That other thought,

The undesired one will come less often with less intensity,

Meaning you will not believe it as much.

Okay,

So keep at it.

So for example,

A thought of I am so stupid,

Okay,

I noticed the thought,

Then I say I was a degrading thought.

And now I say to myself,

I am a person of work.

It can be I am smart,

It can be.

You do want them in present tense.

Not as if it will happen,

Like we don't want it to be I will be a person of work.

I am a person of work.

Another example,

I hate my body.

We noticed it,

We labeled it,

That was a negative thought.

And we say I accept my body.

Make it your own.

Another one,

I have the thought no one likes me.

So now step two,

That was an irrational thought,

Or that was a black and white thought,

Or that could be an untrue thought,

Right?

They fall in different categories.

And so I'm going to challenge you with this last one.

How would you replace that thought?

What is a new thought you can give to that thought?

And so here's another helpful way to challenge thoughts.

We are going to go to a part three.

I want you to come to part three and listen because I'm going to give you an important written table that you can use to do this as well as some really helpful ways to challenge thoughts.

Reviews

Very insightful information in am looking forward to part 3

Then again, excellent part two. All my life studying and no worth to have knowledge without Action. This info is perfectly digested and kindly shared for people to take Action in a very efficient way...👏 Thank you Sara!