Defeating Obsessive or Racing Thoughts

Behind all humor there is frequently a grain of truth. I occasionally tell my clients that If their mind leads them in unwanted directions, picture a stop sign and try the following technique of thought stopping, and then go back to  the auto suggestions they were using originally.

My co-author Kelley Woods suggests the following:

"A bit gentler technique comes from mindfulnesss meditation,Imagining those thoughts as like leaves...drifting from a tree...into a gently flowing stream of water...going to wherever thoughts go when we don't need them anymore.

If more is needed, we can focus on the colors, shapes, smells, sounds, textures and even count those damn leaves!

If even more is needed, I may ask a client, "What would you like to do with those leaves?" I've received some novel suggestions!"

Whether you are trying to fight intrusive thoughts during hypnosis, or when you are trying to go to sleep, or if you are obsessing over a lost relationship, the harder you try to fight such thoughts the more power they have over you. The author of one book on intrusive thoughts put it this way. Try to go for five minutes without thinking of a carrot. Don't think of carrots in a salad, don't think of carrot juice -- and especially, don't think of Bugs Bunny! See how far you get!

Thought stopping will often be effective when you can replace the brief interlude of quiet it provides to turn to more pleasant alternatives as you lose yourself in hypnosis, or in sleep, or in your daily activities, and it is used for such purposes in cognitive-behavioral therapy. But if it doesn't work for you, then stop it and use Kelley's technique!

When You're Just too Depressed to DO Much

You're not suicidal. If you needed prescription medication, you're taking it.  But you just don't feel like DOING anything! And if you have a job or someplace else you need to be, you don't feel like going.  What can you do when your depression is serious enough to spoil your day, but not serious enough to seek prompt medical attention?

You obviously don't feel too depressed to be on the computer, but you could probably use some advice from people who know exactly how you feel. I would like to recommend that you begin with the Ted Talk on You Tube entitled, "How to Get Stuff Done When You're Depressed."  Then, while your depression is on the mend (and one thing that you can count on most of the time is that it will go away), you can help to cheer yourself up by watching four more videos from  their playlist on the subject of depressoon  They have dozens more, if you're still interested, both on the subject of depression and its treatment.

You might also be interested in:

How to Get a Good Night's Sleep 

How to Keep  Your Boss feom Driving You Crazy

Emergency First Aid for Panic Attacks

How to Meditate Like an Expert Almost Anywhere

Cognitive Behavioral Downloads for Clients and Therapists

Hypnosis and cognitive-behavioral therapy are natural allies, since they both deal with changing belief systems. The following two Websites: http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk, and www.psychologytools.org,  contain the most interesting and varied resources I have found for free materials on cognitive-behavioral psychology that you can download for personal use, in order to get rid of the ideas and perceptions that can cause needless misery if they are not dealt with. There are also numerous practical applications for improving the quality of everyday life. 

Cognitive-behavioral therapists frequently use a document called a thought record in order to examine just what goes on in the mind when we make those habitual decisions that keep getting us into trouble  An example of a thought record and how to use it s also available here. There are also other free versions of the thought record form, adapted for special purposes, including:

• Panic Attacks
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Flashbacks 
• Social Anxiety 
• Anger
• Body Dysmorphia
• Obsessions and Compulsions
• OCD/Perfectionism
• Depression
• Additional downloads for record-keeping are also available.

You can make as many copies as you want for your own use by using the print command on your computer. There is also a free online self-help course and other materials on how to use them. Of course, I cannot be responsible for the accuracy or the effectiveness of self-help materials downloaded from the Internet. As a practicing clinical psychologist, I am perhaps a little more conservative than they are about what can legitimately be included within the category of "self-help." Nevertheless, for some situations, it may be worth a look!