One useful coping skill during times of stress is having a “safe place” we can go to whenever we need to. All we have to do is close our eyes and imagine ourselves there. Because of the way our brain works, imagining ourselves in that place can have the same effect on us as being there in …
A Personal Book
A personal book can take many forms—from a timeline or journal to a goal tracker, workbook, or picture book. It can also be used to write about thoughts and feelings or as a narrative about the past. They all have in common that they are about you, by you, for you and belong to you. They are all a …
Labeling
Labeling is a form of negative over-generalization used for people. We take a single event, behavior, or characteristic and use a label to generalize it to the whole person. We can label ourselves, or others. This is also called global labeling or mislabeling. The problem with this kind of labeling …
The Inner Prosecutor
Self-blaming often goes along with mind-reading, but it also has a life of its own, separate from mind-reading. In self-blaming, we attach too much power and responsibility to ourselves. We hold ourselves accountable for things that are outside our sphere of control, and take responsibility for …
Black and White Thinking
Black and white thinking, also called polarized thinking, is a way of viewing situations that fails to acknowledge the nuances that exist between two extremes. With black and white thinking, situations, problems, outcomes, and even people are seen in extremes. Accompanied by our tendency to …