As a follow-up to my article, “Searching for Bad News” – a piece I wrote about individuals who desperately try to prove something dreadful – I wanted to respond to …
OCD PopularWho’s Searching For Bad News: A Special Note to the “You Did Something” Group
ToolsCognitive Distortions
Catastrophizing: You tell yourself that the very worst is happening or is going to happen. Overestimating Probabilities/ Underestimating Coping Response: You overestimate difficulty or danger while underestimating your ability to …
Finding the Compass in Compassion: A New Model of Caring for Others and Ourselves
When I first came to therapy as a client at the age of twenty-one, I worried at the end of my initial session that my suffering would burden my therapist …
Anxiety Reader Feedback SpiritualCoping With Ambiguity (And the Trouble with Affirmations)
Coping statements are qualitatively different than affirmations, because they emphasize resilience, not perfection. I don’t believe in affirmations, but I do believe in coping statements. Affirmations are a form of …
ToolsWhat Are My Coping Skills?
BE PRACTICALDo you have directions? Contact numbers? A plan or goal? Money? The right clothes? Phone charged? Snacks/water? Enough time to get some place? And, do you need to be …
ToolsWrite a Letter to Your Suffering Self
Clients tell me that they have absolutely no idea how to have self-compassion, and while they easily demonstrate compassion for others, they just don’t know how to be compassionate with …
How to Practice Willingness
Many psychological approaches based in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and other mindfulness-based therapies propose willingness as an effective technique for coping with a variety of symptoms. I agree …
ToolsCognitive Defusion and Mindfulness Exercises
Cognitive defusion is the technique of becoming untangled from our thoughts. While cognitive fusion is the process of believing that our thoughts are literally “true,” cognitive defusion is the ability …
Missing Pedophilia OCD: Don’t Let This Happen to You
Don’t let what happen to me? Did I read this right? Now that my title has grabbed your attention, I hope you will allow me to explain: By “you” I …
Professionals ToolsTreating Insomnia with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Relaxation Techniques
Insomnia and other chronic sleep disorders affect more than 40 million people in this country, and studies have shown that anxiety and stress play a significant part in this problematic …