Challenging our Negative Thoughts

Behaviour, thoughts, and feelings are intricately interconnected aspects of human experience. Thoughts influence feelings, shaping emotions like happiness or anxiety, which, in turn, affect behaviour. Positive thoughts can lead to constructive actions, enhancing well-being, while negative thoughts may trigger undesirable emotions and behaviors.

Negative, unhelpful thoughts are often automatic, they happen so quickly we fail to notice them!

Our automatic thoughts can be irrational and negative but if we can identify the negative thought and replace it with a new and rational thought it can improve our mood (feelings) which then leads to a different behaviour.

• Pinpoint the thoughts that is causing you to feel anxious or stressed.

• Question the thought, is it based on fact or assumption.

• Consider alternative explanations, could there be other reasons for what you are thinking.

• Can your replace the negative thought with a more balanced realistic one?

Challenging negative thoughts takes time and persistence. With practice, you can develop a more balanced and positive way of thinking, which can significantly reduce anxiety and improve your overall well-being.

Understand that challenging negative thoughts is a skill, the more you practice, the easier it becomes. Journaling may be helpful for you to overcome negative thoughts and Hope Springs can guide you through this. 

Hope Springs can assist in helping you to challenge your automatic, negative thoughts which leads to an increase in your well being. Call or email today if you would like help with your negative thoughts that are controlling your life.