meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Therapy in a Nutshell

Overthinking Part 2: 6 Therapy Skills to Stop Overthinking Everything

Therapy in a Nutshell

Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam

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

4.8658 Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2022

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Learn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.co... Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional from the comfort of your own home. Try it now for 10% off your first month: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanuts... OK, so how can we stop overthinking everything? 1. The very first skill to stop overthinking is noticing and naming. Rumination is a bad habit that we’re often not aware we’re doing. First, get really good at identifying overthinking, say it out loud “I’m overthinking.” Ask someone to point it out to you. Learn your triggers. What time of day are you most likely to ruminate? Where are you most likely to overthink? At work? When you’re alone? When you’re at the bar? What situations trigger it? Try to predict it. So if you’re most likely to overthink something right as you go to bed or right after a social situation, prepare yourself to notice it so that you shift your focus to something more helpful. If you’re struggling to catch yourself overthinking, you could set an alarm on your phone to go off once an hour and check how much you’ve been ruminating that hour. And just track it for a week. In general, people tend to ruminate the most when they have nothing to occupy their attention. Now that you’ve gotten good at noticing when you’re overthinking, we’re going to take 2 approaches to stop overthinking everything. 1- setting limits on overthinking and 2- learn a bunch of ways to redirect your thoughts to something more helpful. Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanut... Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapyinanutshell.com?utm_medium=YTDescription&utm_source=YouTube Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/bes...  Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/c... If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Understanding mental health struggles can be tough. That's why I created therapy in a nutshell to help make complicated therapeutic topics easy to understand and learn.

0:09.4

I'm Emma McAdam, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and this is the Therapy in a nutshell podcast.

0:15.5

These episodes don't replace the need for mental health professionals or the advice given by doctors, but they provide options,

0:22.1

resources, and skills that can help you in your journey to better your own mental health or help

0:28.3

those around you who may be struggling. If you want to find more resources or if you want to learn

0:33.5

about courses I offer on specific mental health topics, please stop by my website at

0:38.0

TherapyInanInAnUtL.com. Now let's jump in to this week's skill. Hi everyone, I'm Emma McAdam.

0:43.9

I'm a licensed therapist and in this video we're going to be talking about how to stop

0:48.9

overthinking everything. Okay, your boss emails you. He wants to meet with you in two days. He doesn't say why. Your heart drops. You feel sick. What did I do wrong? You think. He's gonna fire me, you think. You spend the next two days obsessing over every little thing that you've done. Every little thing he's said, you're looking for clues.

1:11.1

At night, you lay awake, your brain won't shut up, it just rehashes everything at work over and over and over.

1:18.1

And then during the day, you have a hard time focusing, you struggle to complete tasks,

1:22.6

you catch yourself zoning out and just worrying about what he's gonna say.

1:27.1

You start asking your

1:28.7

coworkers and managers for any clues. Your spouse is getting tired of hearing your endless worries.

1:35.3

And finally, the time comes for your meeting and you walk into his office with your heart just sinking.

1:43.3

Your boss looks stressed, he looks tense.

1:47.7

Take a seat, he says.

1:49.7

And then he tells you that the manager above you is quitting,

1:54.1

and he was wondering if you'd like to take the role.

1:56.4

It comes with more responsibility, but also better pay.

1:59.4

He tells you that he's heard a lot of good

2:01.3

things that you're doing and that he thinks you're a perfect fit for the job. You're thrilled.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.