HEALTHY THINKING
Thought Journal
Define your worries
A thought journal helps you get perspective, which is a powerful tool for reducing anxiety. It helps you realize when you are trapped in unhelpful ways of thinking and guides you to identify more balanced thoughts.
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Use the Thought Journal whenever you notice you're feeling anxious or worried about something.
Assuming that things will go badly only fuels anxiety. It is important to realize that you are future telling (predicting the future) which we can't actually do. A more helpful way of thinking would be to remind yourself that you don't know what's going to happen.
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Choose a tool to help manage anxiety, stressors and moods
Coping Cards
Readjusting your thinking
Using coping cards and coping statements can improve your mental health and well being. Negative self talk doesn't help. You can try thought stop, but unless you have a ready replacement, it probably won't work. The mind is not so good at staying quiet. ​
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That is why preparing coping statements and writing them onto cards that you can carry with you or place in your home can be a positive strategy.
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Click here for a guide on how to create and use coping cards
Belief Experiments
Shut down excessive worry for good
When we are anxious, we tend to believe that things will turn out badly. But what if our predictions are wrong? What if the worst doesn't happen? Or if it did, that it wouldn't really be that bad and could we cope with it?
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Belief experiments let you directly test out whether your predictions or beliefs about a specific situation are accurate or true.
For example, let's say you never ask questions at school because you believe people will laugh at you. A belief experiment would involve asking a question and seeing what actually happens. Is your belief or prediction correct or not? If no one laughs, that is important to know. It means anxiety was stopping you from doing something based on a false belief.
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Click here for guidance on how to execute a belief experiment