As a man thinketh in his heart..so is he: cognitive distortions...

What is it like to be in your mind? If I were a fly on the wall in the halls of your mind, what would I hear?

What would I see? What kind of environment would I be in? Did you know that an experiment was done in which they saw that when positive, affirming things were spoken to a plant it grew, and when negative things were spoken to it, it did the opposite? How much more sophisticated and influenced are we as human beings!

Is your mind a balanced and truthful place that affirms you and builds you up? Is your mind a safe space for you? Is your mind a dark, dank place that you run from because of how it bullies and antagonizes you or constantly puts you down, reminding you of your shortcomings, failures, and inadequacies?

If it is, then man I really feel for you, because I know what it’s like to have been in that place. I remember grappling with depression, anxiety, bpd, and the trauma of my past all compounding together to create a dark, self-loathing, scattered, catastrophizingly negative mindset that crippled my self-esteem and confidence for years, often making me suicidal. I had no idea I really wasn’t even thinking clearly; I definitely didn’t understand the extent to which I wasn’t. I also, though, didn’t understand that I really did have the power to understand the way I was thinking, change the way I was thinking, and that it would continuously multiply in positive dividends for my self-esteem, confidence, and overall feeling of stability and happiness.

Because of this, I created a YouTube series on what are called the eleven cognitive distortions; it’s a two part series so far (third and final part coming this week!) that details the different distorted ways we think, what that looks like, and why they’re both irrational/inaccurate and so negatively impactful. If you’ve heard of all or nothing thinking or splitting then you’re familiar with one of the cognitive distortions already! I did a whole video of its own on all or nothing thinking, because it’s so powerfully detrimental. It’s also so common a contributing problem to many of the ways that we experience mental, emotional, and interpersonal distress.

I’d love for you to go check out the series and let me know what you think! I know that it will be interesting and bring a lot of clarity and breakthrough to your journey to more internal peace and stability.

Are you starting to realize your mind really isn’t a safe or affirming space for you? Do you feel like the victim of your own mind? Does your mind feel overrun with anxious, depressive, or constant negative overthinking? I

Xo

Coach Marie