True/False
Skills work better if we stack them or string them together instead of just using one at a time.
T
This is an unwelcome and involuntary thought that likely prompts emotions like fear and disgust.
Intrusive thought
All-or-nothing thinking
You look at things in absolute, black-or-white categories.
Mind-reading
A form of “jumping to conclusions”: You assume that people are reacting negatively to you where there’s little-to-no clear evidence for this.
CBT addresses anxiety by helping us learn how our ____, our ______, and our ______ are interrelated.
Hint: think about the triangle!
Thoughts, behaviors, emotions!
Bouncing your leg and pacing help reduce anxiety.
False - in fact, doing these behaviors can reinforce anxiety. By moving around anxiously or holding tension in the body, we are sending a message to our brain that there IS a threat we need to protect ourselves against. There are other examples of how we sometimes accidentally strengthen emotions with our behavior. For example, we may think that yelling is helpful when we are mad, but it actually feeds our anger and generally makes us more upset.
Most people naturally engage in these behaviors when they're anxious. A good practice you can do when you notice these behaviors is to signal safety to your brain by sitting in Calm Body, Willing Hands. This allows you to slow your breathing and notice and release tension in your body.
What is a judgment?
An opinion or evaluation often achieved by comparing things, people, or situations; assigns value to what we're describing.
Discounting the positives
You insist that your accomplishments or positive qualities “don’t count” or “aren’t that big of a deal”.
Negative self-talk
Thoughts about yourself that are judgmental, doubting, belittling, and telling you that you are not good enough. These thoughts are negative, hurtful things about you—things that you likely would never even dream of saying to someone else.
Bonus: what emotion are we likely experiencing if we are engaging in negative self-talk?
Even when anxiety is present, sometimes it is not the primary emotion we are feeling.
T
Anxiety can be either a primary or secondary emotion. If we're using skills effectively and staying just as dysregulated, we might want to check to see if another emotion is underneath the anxiety.
For example ...
Sometimes anxiety masks shame. If I struggle with perfectionism, I am feeling the anxiety, AND underneath that there is a belief that if I don't do things perfectly, I am not good enough or lovable. Working with both the anxiety AND the shame beliefs underneath will be important.
Incongruence is when we can't ask for what we need.
Emotional incongruence is when we express emotions that are not the primary emotion we are feeling. For example, if I am avoidant of sadness, I may express anger in reaction to feeling sad; or I may use strategies like sarcasm or excessive humpr to avoid vulnerability.
Incongruence confuses others about what we're feeling, increasing the possibility of being unintentionally invalidated and decreasing the likelihood that we will get support in processing the emotion. It also disconnects us from what we are actually feeling, as we are avoiding it with an inauthentic emotion. This can create confusion and increase dysregulation since our primary emotions are not being addressed.
A concern for something anticipated in the future
Worry
Overestimation of responsibility
You believe that because you think about harmful consequences, you are responsible for preventing harm from coming to yourself or others. Failure to prevent (or failure to try to prevent) harm is the same thing as causing harm.
What is a behavior we might engage in if we are struggling with intolerance of uncertainty?
Reassurance-seeking (and possibly other examples!)
Setting a goal of having no anxiety is not helpful. Why?
- Everyone has anxiety
- Regulated anxiety can be helpful
- Expecting to never feel anxiety sets us up to fail - it's an unreasonable expectation and not possible, so trying to attain an anxiety-free life creates suffering. A more helpful goal is to develop a strong skill set to manage anxiety with more confidence when it comes and to work on accepting anxiety as part of life.
In other words.. not "feeling better" but "getting better at feeling!"
The goal of mindfulness is to clear your mind of all thoughts so you're thinking and feeling nothing at all.
F
Mindfulness is about creating space to observe your thoughts, emotions, and inner/outer world without judging or trying to change your experience. Without mindfulness, it is nearly impossible for other skills to be effective.
What is predicting or fortune-telling?
To declare or indicate in advance of a situation, often based on observation, experience, or scientific reason. These thoughts can also be faulty, not based on facts.
Personalization and Blame
You blame yourself for something you were not entirely responsible for or blame others entirely without looking at how you contributed.
Catastrophizing
You exaggerate the probability that a negative outcome will occur; or you exaggerate the seriousness of any negative consequences. This counts for our emotions too, like shame or anxiety!
Explain the fight, flight or freeze response.
Our sympathetic nervous system detects (accurately or inaccurately) a threat and sends many systems into "high alert" - heart rate up, muscles tensed and ready to move, sweating, body temperature up, thoughts going faster. This enables us to be ready to fight, freeze, or run away in the case of a real threat. However, most situations that bring us anxiety do not require us to fight, freeze or flee, so this response can be like a faulty smoke alarm!
All people experience intrusive thoughts.
Okay, it's not fair to say "ALL" with total certainty, since we can't know everyone's mind..
But studies show that nearly everyone experiences intrusive thinking even if they don't have OCD. And yes, most people's intrusive thoughts are at times very upsetting, unwanted, and weird!
Emotional reasoning
You draw conclusions based on how you feel - for example, you assume that danger is present simply because you feel anxious." or "I feel like an idiot, so I must be one."
Thought/action fusion
"If I think something, it means I will do it/cause something to happen."
There is also moral thought/action fusion, meaning that we believe thinking about doing something "bad" is the same as actually doing it.
"Shoulding" / "should" statements
You criticize yourself or other people with “should” statements because you have a want or an expectation for how things “should” or “should not” be.
If you find yourself using a lot of "shoulds.."
-Practice the skill of radical acceptance for problems you cannot solve.
-Identify whether your "shoulds" are actually decreasing your suffering or solving any problems. I can spend time thinking about how I should be making a million dollars a year and how everyone should be nice to me. Those thoughts won't cause those things to happen. They'll just increase my dysregulation!
- Ask yourself - what can I control, and what do I not control?
- Try changing the statement to reflect your emotional experience. Instead of saying "my mom should never take my phone away," you could notice that "when my mom takes my phone away, it brings up a lot of ____ for me" (anger, anxiety, loneliness).
Explain how anxiety is related to people-pleasing.
Lots of ways to phrase this answer...
If I am afraid of rejection, I may shift my behavior, preferences, etc. to ensure I never upset or offend anyone and am likeable at all times.
Why is this a problem in relationships?