The worrying, the what-ifs, the doomscrolling! Worst case scenario type thinking is pretty easy to slip into in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The uncertainty, the constant new information and just the weight of how it's affecting our lives can send the most positive among us into a tailspin of negative thinking. In turn, that negative thinking can send our stress level soaring and have a profound effect on our mental and even physical health. But we can’t help what we think about, right? Spoiler Alert: yes we can!
Last year we interviewed a psychologist and expert on the power of thoughts about how to harness them. We wanted to know if we could intentionally guide our thoughts to the most elevating, motivating, beneficial direction possible.
Because of the marked increase in negative input, we decided to revisit this episode. It’s built around incorporating positive people, activities, and THOUGHTS into our mental arsenal. Dr. Jennifer Goble, retired mental health counselor and author of My Clients, My Teachers: The Noble Process of Psychotherapy teaches us to shift our thoughts to directions that will serve us best. She realized, after decades of counseling clients, that a mentally healthy life requires the ability to control our thoughts.
We cannot control the weather. We cannot control other people. We cannot control COVID-19. In fact, there are many circumstances that we absolutely cannot control. However, once we realize that we can control how we think about things, people, ourselves, and outside circumstances, then we can make real changes for the better and work to nix the worst-case scenario thinking. After learning to harness our thoughts, perhaps we can harness our feelings and our behavior, which can make some of those outside circumstances change for the better too!
In the words of The Little Engine That Could….I Think I Can!!
We encourage you to give us a few minutes as Dr. J helps us start thinking about WHAT we're thinking about and move our lives in a more positive direction!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
