Coronavirus Rule #1...Don't Touch Your Face! Why Can't You NOW Stop Touching Your Face? Thought Suppression & Rebound Behaviors

The Virtual Couch

Tony Overbay LMFT

Education, Mental Health, Health & Fitness, Self-improvement

5 • 643 Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2020

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With the continued information about the coronavirus coming in almost by the minute, two things have remained consistent...wash your hands long enough to sing the ABC song AND don't touch your face! But for most, simply telling one to not touch their face leads to more face touching, oftentimes significantly more than they would have had they never been instructed to not touch their face in the first place! Why is it so hard to stop touching our faces...no touchy!!! In this episode, Tony tackles the reasons why thought suppression not only doesn't work, but it actually makes the situation worse! Tony references the NBC News article, "Try not to touch your face. Also, try not to think about touching your face." by Kalhan Rosenblatt https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/try-not-touch-your-face-also-try-not-think-about-n1150161 (https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/try-not-touch-your-face-also-try-not-think-about-n1150161) as well as the Psychology Today article "Don't Think About It: Thought Suppression Causes Behavior Rebound" by Ira Hyman Ph.D. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-mishaps/201009/dont-think-about-it (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-mishaps/201009/dont-think-about-it)-Tony's new best selling book "He's a Porn Addict...Now What? An Expert and a Former Addict Answer Your Questions" is now available on Kindle. https://amzn.to/38mauBo (https://amzn.to/38mauBo)-Tony Overbay, is the co-author of "He's a Porn Addict...Now What? An Expert and a Former Addict Answer Your Questions" now available on Amazon https://amzn.to/33fk0U4 (https://amzn.to/33fk0U4). The book debuted in the number 1 spot in the Sexual Health Recovery category and remains there as the time of this record. The book has received numerous positive reviews from professionals in the mental health and recovery fields.-The book tackles tough questions with answers from both the expert and the addict's point of view. Tony, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and creator of The Path Back, an online pornography addiction recovery program that has helped hundreds of people overcome turning to pornography and other compulsive sexual behaviors as a coping mechanism, and Joshua Shea, former addict, and author of the book “The Addiction Nobody Will Talk About” read their respective answers to questions such as "Finding out he's addicted to porn has turned me off to sex completely, what should I do?" And "How much do we tell the kids?" And "Does this mean that God is mad at me, or doesn't love me?"-Reviews include: "This is the most helpful book for porn addicts and the people who (still) love them. One of the most courageous and timely books to help with a widespread and almost never talked about epidemic that is ruining marriages, careers, and lives. It will give hope to millions of people who are addicted to pornography. -- Mark Goulston, MD, FAPA, Author of Just Listen Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone.-You can learn more about Tony's pornography recovery program The Path Back by visiting http://pathbackrecovery.com (http://pathbackrecovery.com) And visit http://tonyoverbay.com (http://tonyoverbay.com) and sign up to receive updates on upcoming programs, and podcasts.-The Virtual Couch is sponsored by http://Betterhelp.com/virtualcouch (http://Betterhelp.com/virtualcouch) Betterhelp.com is the world's leading provider of online therapy. Their mission is to make professional counseling accessible, affordable, and convenient, so anyone who struggles with life's challenges can get help, anytime, anywhere. Head to

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, coming up on today's episode of the virtual couch, we're going to talk about why it's so hard at times to not touch your face.
0:06.9	When you're told, don't touch your face, that that's one of the best things that you can do right now to avoid the coronavirus.
0:13.9	Why do we still find ourselves touching our face?
0:15.8	We're going to talk about that and plenty more about thought suppression, about rebounding behaviors coming up on this episode
0:22.1	of the virtual couch.
0:32.3	Hey, I know this is an ad, and I know that even when I listen to podcasts, a lot of times
0:36.4	I skip forward and I skip the ads. And actually, if you didn't know that you could do that then pretend I didn't
0:40.5	say anything but here's why I like to talk about this ad and I'm really going to try to make this one so
0:44.7	fast but this is about betterhelp.com if you go to betterhelp.com slash virtual couch you will be in
0:51.3	touch with what over we're pushing almost a million people have discovered about
0:55.0	the world of online therapy a lot of times i do hear stories about how difficult it can be the more
1:00.6	that we're ending this this negative stigma or negative stereotype about going to counseling which i'm so
1:05.4	grateful for it's only taken about 15 years in this field to watch that happen but the more we're doing
1:10.2	that the more people are wanting to go to counseling which i'm that happen. But the more we're doing that, the more people are
1:11.3	wanting to go to counseling, which I'm so grateful for. But the more and more difficult it can be
1:15.9	to find a counselor. Or you might live in areas of the world where you can't get to a counselor.
1:21.4	And even though today's episode is talking about the coronavirus a little bit, we're talking
1:26.6	about not touching your face, how
1:27.9	thought suppression works or how it doesn't work actually. But even there are people that are
1:32.4	wanting to do online sessions with me, some of my regulars right now. So if you are one who would
1:38.6	prefer to have a video session or a phone session, go to betterhealth.com slash virtual couch.
1:44.0	There's a broad range of
	...

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