At its core, CBT focuses on your thought patterns (i.e., cognitions) and promotes patterns of behavior that can help to free you from anxiety and low mood. There are a number of cognitive and behavioral strategies that a CBT practitioner might draw upon.

Cognitive CBT Techniques

A central premise of CBT is that negative thoughts contribute to mental health problems and that we have some degree of control over how we respond to these thoughts. In CBT clients learn how to identify automatic negative thoughts, which often slip past conscious awareness, and how to develop more helpful responses.  

Behavioral CBT Strategies

There are also several behavioral CBT techniques and strategies that a CBT specialist might employ. These include:

1. Behavioral Activation: Focusing on increasing the frequency of pleasant and rewarding activities

2. Exposure: Identifying emotional triggers and gradually exposing oneself to these triggers to take away their emotional power

3. Behavioral Analysis: Examining problematic behaviors and identifying triggers and consequences of these behavior, which culminates in a behavioral plan designed to extinguish problematic behaviors. 

Adult CBT Coaching Services in Nashville Area
If you think CBT techniques and strategies might be a good fit for you, consider reaching out for in-person adult CBT coaching services in the Nashville area (or virtually worldwide). As a cognitive-behavioral therapy specialist in the Nashville area, Dr. Jason Holland draws upon a range of CBT techniques and strategies when offering adult CBT coaching services. Complete a Contact Us form to schedule an appointment or a free 15 minute consultation to learn more about what CBT is and if it might be right for you.

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Meta-cognitions are thoughts about our own pattern of thinking. Studies have shown that dysfunctional meta-cognitions (e.g., I can’t ignore my anxious thoughts) are associated with a number of negative outcomes, including poor concentration and less emotional wellbeing. And CBT-based therapies that target these metacognitions have been found to be superior to those that focus solely on challenging the content of specific thoughts (e.g., scrutinizing a pervasive negative belief like ‘I’m no good’).

Here are 5 different types of unhelpful meta-cognitions that I encounter routinely in my work as a virtual CBT personal coach in Gallatin, TN:

1. Beliefs that thoughts are uncontrollable and dangerous. Examples: I can’t ignore my worried thoughts; Worrying could make me go crazy. 

2. Positive beliefs about worry. Examples: Worrying is a helpful coping strategy; I need to worry to perform at my best. 

3. Lack of confidence in one’s thinking. Examples: My memory can mislead me; I can’t trust that I’ll remember what I’m supposed to do. 

4. Self-consciousness about thinking. Examples: I have to constantly examine my thoughts; It’s important to always monitor my thinking.

5. Need to control thoughts. Examples: I’ll pay later for not controlling certain thoughts;  It’s bad to have certain thoughts.

So, what can you do if you notice yourself having a lot of these kinds of thoughts about your thinking? Instead of focusing on all the negative and anxious thoughts you’re having, which in some ways can serve to make them more important in your life, metacognitive therapy is a form of CBT that takes a step back and works on creating some distance between you and your thinking. 

From this perspective, problems arise when people become too fused with their ruminations. Worried thoughts become like a sticky film that wrap themselves around our personal identity. We become the thoughts.  

In reality, however, our identity encompasses far more than the scripts that run through our head, which are often a byproduct of our personal histories (e.g., messages repeated throughout childhood) and evolutionary past (e.g., the pull of the brain to hone in on perceived threats). And we have the power to shift our focus and detach from the tired scripts that play in our head. 

Developing Meta-Cognitive Awareness

Metacognitive awareness means being more attuned to the way you’re thinking. It involves cultivating a healthy skepticism for beliefs that maintain worry (e.g., worrying protects me from danger) and developing an ability to mindfully watch your thoughts without completely attaching yourself to them.

Virtual CBT Personal Coaching
If you’re feeling stressed and anxious and have unhelpful meta-cognitions that have taken over your life, consider working with a CBT psychologist or personal coach trained in CBT.  As a clinical psychologist with extensive training in CBT, I offer in-person CBT personal coaching to individuals in the Gallatin, TN area as well as virtual CBT personal coaching to clients worldwide. Complete a Contact Us form to get the conversation started.

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CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and the “cognitive” component focuses on finding new ways to relate to your negative thoughts. We have limited control of the thoughts that pop into our mind, but when we notice an automatic negative thought, we do have control over how we choose to respond to it. Here are four common automatic negative thought patterns and the antidote to each: 

1. Doomsday Thinking

Doomsday thinking occurs when you convince yourself that the future looks hopeless and bad outcomes are inevitable. This type of thinking is also referred to as ‘catastrophizing’ and involves thoughts like, “This bad day is going to last forever” or “I’m just waiting for the hammer to drop.”

Antidote: Instead of taking it for granted that your negative predictions are true, take the time to consider the actual evidence for and against them, as though you’re a dispassionate detective who only cares about the facts. 

For example, if you feel like things will never get better, think back to other hard times you’ve faced in your life and consider how you handled it over time—weeks, months, and years later. You may recall a number of difficult moments in your life and how much you had to struggle, perhaps fueling doubts about your ability to cope with the current circumstances. 

However, there are also likely times in your past when gloomy predictions about the future didn’t entirely come to pass. Maybe you were able to find creative ways to mitigate the damage. 

Weighing all the evidence together, ask yourself how likely it now seems that things will never get better? Even a slight modification in your perspective (e.g., Things won’t get better for a long time) can equal big changes for your mood and outlook on life. 

2. Tyranny of the Shoulds 

This type of thinking refers to the rules you have about the way things should be. These rules are often unrealistic expectations that result in strong feelings of guilt or anxiety when not met. For example, a perfectionist might believe that “I should outperform all of my coworkers.”

Antidote: Start by using less extreme language. Instead of telling yourself “I shouldn’t have made that mistake” you could tell yourself, “I wish I hadn’t made that mistake, and I’ll learn from it.” Such linguistic shifts, though subtle, reflect far greater self-compassion—a key ingredient for managing stress.  

It can also be helpful to list the pros and cons of focusing so much on negative self-comparisons and ‘should talk.’ There might be legitimate reasons why you believe these thoughts are a positive presence in your life, perhaps because they motivate you or help you find ways to improve yourself. But they undoubtedly come at a cost to your self-esteem, and in the end often backfire, leading to burnout and feelings of hopelessness. 

3. Emotional Thinking

Emotional thinking involves using your feelings as the basis for the facts about a situation. For instance, after a job interview you might reason that, “I felt so awkward, everything must have gone horribly.”

Antidote: Try consulting with other people that you trust. Ask them questions and gather information to find out if your thoughts and attitudes are realistic. In this case, you might learn that it’s not an uncommon experience to feel like you totally blew an interview, and in some cases, people still get the job! 

4. Over-Personalizing

Over-personalization refers to a tendency to interpret situations in such a way that you believe others have negative opinions or bad intentions toward you. 

For me personally, I used to get thrown off during presentations when audience members would walk out right in the middle of my talk. I’d convince myself, “They must be totally bored and hate everything I’m saying.” 

Antidote: Instead of immediately assuming that everything is about you and blaming yourself for everything, consider the other factors that likely contributed to it. 

In my case, it was helpful to consider that someone might leave a talk for hundreds of reasons. Maybe they needed to return a phone call or go to the bathroom? Perhaps they left because they couldn’t tolerate sitting in the hard chairs anymore? Or they could have been starving from skipping lunch?

Regardless of the reason, I learned that the comings and goings of audience members is probably a poor indicator of my performance. So, I might as well just focus on doing the best job I can. 

CBT Psychologist for Stress Management in Gallatin, TN & Virtually
If you’re struggling with automatic negative thoughts and are having trouble managing stress on your own, consider consulting with Dr. Jason Holland, a CBT psychologist in Gallatin, TN who offers wellness coaching and CBT for stress management. Dr. Holland can help you identify and neutralize automatic negative thought patterns that are holding you back. Reach out today by completing the Contact Us form on the website to get the conversation started.  

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