I am Thinking…
Eliminating Thoughts
Car Alarms
Helpful Worry vs Unhelpful Worry
Storytelling
Approach
What Is
YouTube Feed
Welcoming Anxiety
Overthinking
Outcome Focused
Beliefs About Thoughts
Worry vs Planning
Growth & Perfection
Anticipatory Anxiety & Decisions
Self-Care
Core Fears
Psychological Flexibility
Intentions
Beliefs About Worry
Unhelpful Assumptions
Selective Attention
Anxiety vs Suffering
Thought-Action Fusion
Imperfect Friend
Automatic Thoughts
The Anxiety Cycle
Process Over Outcome
Mental Reps
Productive vs Unproductive Worry
Perfectionism to Self-Compassion
“Just Think Positive”
Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast
Externalize Anxiety
Perfecting Anxiety
Thought Defusion
Acceptance vs White Knuckling it
Shifting to the Present and the External
Keeping Anxiety on its Leash
Intrusive Thoughts
Safety Behaviors
Rumination is Active
Reassurance Seeking
Challenging Thoughts Too Much
Out of Control
Catastrophizing
Insight and Anxiety
Anxiety is Normal
Short-Term Comfort
Anxiety Loves to Stay Vague
No Fear
The Child Brain, The Parent Brain, & The Grandparent Brain
Intrusive Thoughts
Having a weird, concerning, frightening thought doesn’t automatically make it an intrusive thought. It only becomes intrusive when it starts interfering with our lives somehow. The key factor that pushes a thought into the intrusive category is when we give it power. For example: Trying to get rid the thought (the more we concentrate on eliminating it, the more power we give it) Believing that having a thought increases the likelihood of acting in a way consistent with that thought Believing that our thoughts define who we are and what we value The reality is: thoughts are just thoughts. That’s all. Imagine sitting at a cafe, trying to enjoy a conversation with a friend while background music is playing (i.e., your thoughts). If you start analyzing the music, you can’t fully listen to your friend. If you ask the owner of the cafe to turn down the music, they just turn up the volume. The goal is to simply focus on your friend despite the background music. That’s it. Sometimes this is easy when the music isn’t very loud or the music isn’t interesting. Other times it’s more challenging. The paradox: By focusing on reducing the music, we increase our focus on it, which makes it more intrusive. By simply focusing on our goals and our values, despite the annoying background music, what we find is that the music tends to fade away automatically. This takes practice and repetition.
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Weekly thoughts on anxiety + Event updates
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Intrusive Thoughts
Having a weird, concerning, frightening thought doesn’t automatically make it an intrusive thought. It only becomes intrusive when it starts interfering with our lives somehow. The key factor that pushes a thought into the intrusive category is when we give it power. For example: Trying to get rid the thought (the more we concentrate on eliminating it, the more power we give it) Believing that having a thought increases the likelihood of acting in a way consistent with that thought Believing that our thoughts define who we are and what we value The reality is: thoughts are just thoughts. That’s all. Imagine sitting at a cafe, trying to enjoy a conversation with a friend while background music is playing (i.e., your thoughts). If you start analyzing the music, you can’t fully listen to your friend. If you ask the owner of the cafe to turn down the music, they just turn up the volume. The goal is to simply focus on your friend despite the background music. That’s it. Sometimes this is easy when the music isn’t very loud or the music isn’t interesting. Other times it’s more challenging. The paradox: By focusing on reducing the music, we increase our focus on it, which makes it more intrusive. By simply focusing on our goals and our values, despite the annoying background music, what we find is that the music tends to fade away automatically. This takes practice and repetition.
Subscribe
Weekly thoughts on anxiety + Event updates
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact