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Therapy in a Nutshell

Stop Catastrophizing About Your Future: Break the Anxiety Cycle Day 17

Therapy in a Nutshell

Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam

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

4.8658 Ratings

🗓️ 28 December 2023

⏱️ 14 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Break the Anxiety Cycle in 30 Days- Online Course- https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/anxietyskills Catastrophizing is essentially a defense mechanism but one that isn’t the best, it backfires. It can contribute to depression and anxiety and other mental health conditions. So let’s replace it with a more helpful one. In this video you'll learn how to use the skill of mental imagery to combat anxiety and create greater chances of success. You'll learn to ask “What if it all works out?” Let’s visualize ourselves working through challenges. You can physiologically create a sense of confidence and efficacy with the simple exercise- what if everything works out? 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/therapyinanutshell Learn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanutshell Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapyinanutshell.com Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/best-self-help-books  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/comeuntochrist/believe 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

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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.

0:09.3

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

0:15.4

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

0:20.2

but they provide options,

0:22.1

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

0:27.4

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

0:32.9

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

0:37.8

TherapyInNNHL.com. Now let's jump in to this week's skill. Are you super good at

0:43.4

catastrophizing? Do you expect the worst? Let's talk about it and how to manage anxiety

0:49.5

by interrupting catastrophizing. But first, what do all these folks have in common? And what the heck

0:57.2

are they doing? And what does it have to do with anxiety and performance? Okay, but back to catastrophizing.

1:05.1

Adam Pearson tells the story of when he was an aspiring chef. He got to work with this super

1:09.7

famous chef as a student and he said, I was so honored.

1:14.6

And I was also totally freaked out.

1:16.6

Here was my issue. I would be there in the kitchen, suited up in my crisp white chef coat,

1:22.6

preparing the recipes for the day's lesson.

1:24.6

And I couldn't stop thinking about the worst case scenarios that could happen.

1:28.2

I couldn't stop imagining how things could go totally wrong. What if I boiled my consumm?

1:34.4

I don't know how to pronounce that. Consomme? And it went all cloudy. What if I burned or

1:40.5

undercooked my chicken? What if I screwed up my soul filleting and had no nice

1:44.5

fillets to present? All of this what if thinking left me feeling totally anxious. And the more

1:50.8

anxious I became, the more mistakes I made. The more mistakes I made, the more anxious I became.

...

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