I have often mentioned cognitive behavioral therapy (abbreviated to CBT). I realized that I haven’t yet actually detailed my favorite ones on Smart On Health.
I talk about CBT techniques so much because they really work to stop emotional eating or avoiding that work out. I am not a therapist. But, I’ve done a LOT of therapy. I have found CBT tools to be invaluable in helping me stick to healthy eating and exercise most days.
I was using cognitive behavioral therapy tools quite successfully already when I ran across Judith Beck’s book, “The Beck diet solution” , which has become one of the things I love. Even if you already know some CBT techniques, Beck’s book provides many practices that you may not have heard about. I found many additional exercises in Beck’s book that I had never considered.
CBT can be simple, but not easy. My favorite ones are thought stopping, challenging beliefs, and re-framing. The three of them work together in a progression. You stop, challenge, then reconstruct what you’re thinking.
Thought stopping is what it sounds like. When you realize you’re having a troublesome thought you give yourself a cue to stop! Visualize a stop sign or something that communicates “halt” to you. Now you can unpack the chain of events that led you to the difficult spot. For example, my brain is my harshest critic. When it says, “holy #%^ what you just did was stupid” I say “stop” to myself quite emphatically. Then I picture a crossing guard holding up traffic.
Sometimes it isn’t easy to just stop. If you have a mood disorder your brain might ruminate. If that happens to you, you change the channel. Just like when you’re watching TV, there are repeats. When that happens, take a breath and think about something that makes you happy and relaxed. Narrate the scene to yourself in detail and imagine the physical sensations. I like to remember watching sunsets on the beach at my family’s summer cottage. Sometimes all I need is to see the sunset in my brain. Other times, I have to picture myself walking out the door, feeling how the sand feels under my feet as I take the path to the beach, and the smell of the pine and birch trees that leave dead needles on my route.
Challenging beliefs is also just what it says. When you say something nasty to yourself, you challenge that statement. Ask, is what I just said true? Usually it isn’t. Ask yourself, am I fortune telling? You might be projecting the future, thinking about a bad outcome.There are some tricks to figure out if a thought needs to be challenged. Words like “always,” “only,” “never” exaggerate reality. You probably don’t always or only or never do that thing.
Re-framing is the add-on to challenging your thoughts. Counter that negative outcome. When you’re fortune telling say to yourself, “nobody knows what is going to happen for sure.” Maybe you’re rehashing something that happened in the past. This is where you fight back with your brain and talk to yourself like you would talk to a loved one. Phrases like, “that may have happened but I learned from it and don’t do that anymore.” My favorite come back for those past regrets is, “it’s better this way.” Once I say that, I list all the good things that happened in my life that would not have occurred if I hadn’t lived through that event.
Re-framing beliefs is pretty much a “yeah but…” response where you talk about the situation positively instead of negatively. It is admittedly a bit pollyanna-ish to contradict the negative with a bright sunny positive. This is the hardest one of the three techniques IMHO. My biggest example of re-framing is how I managed my attitude when I got pushed out of a job I loved due to bullying. I felt defeated, worthless, and incredibly sad to lose the best job I’ve ever had. I had to take a job that involved a really long commute. Yeah, but I also got to work at a prior employer where I hadn’t quite vested in my retirement. I didn’t need much more time in that system to ensure thousands of dollars more in my retirement funds. I also got to start a brand new department, which was something I’d never done before. It’s true that sometimes a situation really sucks. It is possible to find the silver lining, however.
The three CBT techniques have an immediate positive impact on one’s mood. They allow you to pause and possibly avoid reaching for the comfort food or skipping the work out because you have taken the time to see the chain of events and statements in your brain that cause duress. They allow you to substitute another soothing practice or give yourself some positive motivation to change into those running shoes. Try it for yourself and see how it goes.