Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - An Ongoing Exercise

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Welcome to my brain! Since my hospital release, I have returned to one of the most effective method of self-therapy: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This will be a new category of posts, and a way for me to delve more deeply into this as a tool for permanent recovery, while also showing how it can be used to further one’s self-improvement.

ANT (Automatic Negative Thought):

  • I never get out of bed when my alarm clock sounds.

Thinking Distortion:

  • All-or-Nothing Thinking

    • It’s black or white, right or wrong, feast or famine. Rarely is anything so clear cut, but the mind likes to simplify experiences to create patterns by which to understand the world.

  • Emotional Reasoning

    • I think this is true so it must be. Alternatively, emotions must always be valid. Emotions can make it challenging to accurately view facts. This is why the truth challenge must include logical, observable realities.

Truth Challenge:

  • You have gotten out of bed with and without an alarm in the past.

  • You are a week and one day removed from your hospital stay; it can take some time to get back to your normal schedule.

  • Your worth is not dependent on being out of bed by 6AM.

Practical Adjustment:

  • Tonight, set my alarm to 6:15AM. Aim for a lower bar and see if I can clear it.