Maybe you have tried to just try and tell yourself to stop thinking something, or not go there in your head and it just doesn’t work. You find yourself still repeating certain behaviours, returning to old ways of thinking. You are not alone. That is because we work on different levels – at an actual brain level. Our “emotional” brain is like the overdrive button when things get rough, making it natural to return to those impulsive ways of reacting. That is why working with emotions, and not just talking about them or “trying hard” to change them is an important aspect of what I do in the counselling room.
Helpful counselling works at many levels: our thoughts, feelings, memories and sensations. When we are working with thoughts or thinking patterns we want to really get to the core beliefs, those are the things we believe deep inside and may not even give any thought to. We also want to increase the type of thinking that is already working well for us. Working with thoughts, along with emotions, can be an important aspect of making changes.
This is not simply trying to “stay positive”, “look on the bright side” or “think happy thoughts”!
Still, this made me laugh and maybe you too:
