The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Scientists estimate that we have on average 50,000 thoughts a day.  That number always astounds me. How often do we get caught in loops of thinking that feel familiar? If you’re like most people, it’s a lot!  We get stuck in stories about not being good enough, fears about rejection, judgements about our appearance, and on and on.  Sometimes, these stories seem to take on a life of their own, and they end up pushing us around, away from things that matter to us. Maybe your story about people not liking you keeps you from asking for someone’s phone number even though you’re really longing for a relationship, or your fear that you’re not smart enough makes you put off applying to graduate school even though you’ve always wanted to study climate change.  In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), we start be making ourself familiar with some of the stories that we tell ourselves. We bring compassionate awareness to some of the patterns of our mind. Even just the act of taking interest in what is happening in our mind can decrease some of our suffering.  Just noticing that our minds do all kinds of gymnastics can bring a bit of lightness to some of our challenges and slowly, we can begin relating to our thinking in a different way.  The thoughts that we once experienced as loud facts in neon lights, become quiet, and don’t push us around so much anymore. To learn more about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy click here, or check out the Psychologists Off the Clock podcast here