Combatting automatic negative thoughts3/28/2024 ![]() Sourced from Building Self-esteem: A Self-Help Guide, SAMHSA booklet SMA-3715Īs advocates of mental health and wellness, we take great pride in educating our readers on the various online therapy providers available. As you work on building your self-esteem you will notice that you feel better more and more often, that you are enjoying your life more than you did before, and that you are doing more of the things you have always wanted to do. These suggestions are just the beginning of the journey. You deserve to think good thoughts about yourself. If they recur at some other time, you can repeat these activities. If you use the following techniques consistently for four to six weeks, you will notice that you don't think these negative thoughts about yourself as much. It helps to reinforce the positive thought if you repeat if over and over to yourself when you are deeply relaxed, like when you are doing a deep-breathing or relaxation exercise, or when you are just falling asleep or waking up.Ĭhanging the negative thoughts you have about yourself to positive ones takes time and persistence. making signs that say the positive thought, hanging them in places where you would see them often-like on your refrigerator door or on the mirror in your bathroom-and repeating the thought to yourself several times when you see it.repeating your positive thought over and over to yourself, out loud whenever you get a chance and even sharing them with another person if possible.Replacing the negative thought with the positive one every time you realize you are thinking the negative thought.You can work on changing your negative thoughts to positive ones by: In one column write your negative thought and in the other column write a positive thought that contradicts the negative thought as shown on the next page. You can do this by folding a piece of paper in half the long way to make two columns. Substitute " it would be nice if" for " should." Always use the present tense, e.g., " I am healthy, I am well, I am happy, I have a good job," as if the condition already exists. Don't make a statement like " I am not going to worry any more." Instead say " I focus on the positive" or whatever feels right to you. In developing these thoughts, use positive words like happy, peaceful, loving, enthusiastic, warm.Īvoid using negative words such as worried, frightened, upset, tired, bored, not, never, can't. When you are thinking a positive thought about yourself, you can't be thinking a negative one. You can't think two thoughts at the same time. The next step in this process is to develop positive statements you can say to yourself to replace these negative thoughts whenever you notice yourself thinking them. ![]() Often, just looking at a thought or situation in a new light helps. You could also ask someone else, someone who likes you and who you trust, if you should believe this thought about yourself. ![]()
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