Overcome Negative Thoughts Through The Cognitive-behavioral Approach
Negative thoughts are part of many people’s lives, and although sometimes they are not intense enough to constitute a serious problem, sometimes they do become a reason to seek professional help.
In this article we will see How it is possible to overcome negative thoughts through one of the most effective psychological intervention models: cognitive-behavioral.
The cognitive-behavioral approach is a paradigm in psychology that aims to intervene in both mental processes and behavior that can be easily objectified through observation, given that it is assumed that both elements are fundamental parts of the human experience.
Thus, for example, when treating psychological problems, professionals who rely on the cognitive-behavioral model understand that to facilitate change for the better, a transformation must be promoted. both in the person’s way of thinking and in the way they interact with the environment since both processes, combined, reinforce each other and ensure that the person being helped makes a qualitative leap in their way of living life, adopting a more constructive mentality and having better resources to solve their problems.
What are negative thoughts?
The concept of “negative thoughts” is not part of the technical jargon used by psychologists, although it is useful to express certain ideas in a simplified way that is easy for everyone to understand. Typically, it refers to ideas and beliefs that appear more or less recurrently in the consciousness of the person who experiences them and which give rise to the adoption of an unconstructive, pessimistic attitude towards something that is perceived as a problem.
Something must be emphasized here: Negative thoughts are not negative simply because they are associated with painful or unpleasant emotions or feelings. Although in practice it is true that they usually go hand in hand with discomfort, mainly anxiety or sadness, these experiences are not something that in themselves inevitably lead us to adopt an attitude that works against us.
Thus, in negative thoughts, both things occur: emotional pain, on the one hand, and the propensity to face that discomfort through a type of behavior that not only does not help to solve what happens to us, but also hinders us. the change for the better.
The cognitive-behavioral approach applied to negative thoughts
These are the key ideas that define how psychologists use the cognitive-behavioral model to help people with negative thoughts.
1. Review problematic beliefs
Virtually all human beings develop a system of beliefs through which they interpret what happens to them and what happens in the world in general. Many of these beliefs are useful for having an informed view of what is happening around us, but others predispose us to repeat over and over again behaviors that harm us and that, however, we cannot stop reproducing.
Therefore, psychologists who are experts in the cognitive-behavioral approach we help people review their own beliefs many of which are so old and so important to us that we had not even noticed their existence, and from then on we question to what extent they are correct and appropriate for us.
2. Analyze the person’s context
Both objective behaviors (for example, always going to the same bar on weekends) and people’s ideas and beliefs (for example, what they believe about what a good time is) are united, they correspond to each other.
That is why psychologists who work through the cognitive-behavioral approach We do not limit ourselves to always proposing the same solutions like someone using a magic potion That works for everyone. Instead, we first study the particular case of both the person and their habits and the environments to which they are exposed, to provide solutions adapted to it.
3. Help manage discomfort
When managing negative thoughts, it is important not to feed the idea that the person who goes to the psychologist should expect to completely get rid of that feeling that makes them suffer. These types of expectations not only frustrate; others, prevents progress because it passes off as failure what is really progress.
The key is not to block feelings or emotions, but to learn to tolerate a certain level of discomfort that is compensated by the ability to manage the attention focus, that is, the process by which we decide what our consciousness will focus on.
4. Teach to use the environment as a tool
One of the basic principles of the cognitive-behavioral model is that changes for the better do not come only through introspection , that is, through reflection and in general the examination of ideas. We must combine this aspect focused on mental content, on the one hand, with the adoption of habits in our interaction with the environment and with others. In this way, we will be promoting changes in our mind and our consciousness using what surrounds us as a tool.
A practical example: if we usually feel anxious just before studying for an exam, some people find it works to hide their cell phone in a drawer, keep food away, and have a sheet of paper with the study schedule in view. .
That is, it creates a environment in which we do not fall into behaviors that make negative thoughts appear in us constantly (“What am I missing on my social networks?”) and that makes it easier to take steps to direct our emotions to a task that really helps us feel better.
5. Use of relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques help us get rid of that experience in which a thought that worries us runs through our mind over and over again, not allowing us to focus on other things. Are relatively simple exercises that we can use at key moments to break the vicious cycle of negative thoughts.
Do you want to have professional psychological support?
If you are interested in having psychological support based on the cognitive-behavioral model to learn to manage negative thoughts, I invite you to contact me. I am a psychologist and consultant with many years of experience in the application of this type of psychological intervention, and I serve people in individual sessions as well as in couples therapy and intervention in companies. You can count on my services at my center located in Madrid, or through online sessions by video call.
