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General Reframing Toxic Negative Thoughts

GunnarR

GunnarR

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I'm taking a really cool brain health coaching certification by Dr. Daniel Amen to help better equip me to help people with mental illnesses. One thing that he keeps teaching is the importance of NOT believing every stupid thought you have. Our brains release chemicals every time we have a thought. When we have toxic thoughts, it releases chemicals that steals our joy and makes us feel worse.
I thought I would share this to help everyone "take thoughts captive and make them obedient to Messiah."
When you have a toxic thought (for this I will use the example, "I am stupid" in parenthesis following the questions) ask yourself these 4 questions:
Is it true? (Yes, I am stupid.)
Can you be 100% certain that it's absolutely true? (Well, not really... I do have an occasional good idea.)
How do you feel when you have the thought? How do you treat other people around you when you have this thought? (I feel terrible when I have this thought. I treat people poorly when I have this thought.)
How would you feel if you didn't have the thought? (I would feel great and smarter. I wouldn't question my intelligence or capability. I would be more happy and people around me would be more happy as well.)

Then after you complete the questions, turn the statement around and make it an opposite. So we turn "I am stupid" into "I'm not stupid" or "I am smart."
This simple and easy task makes such a powerful impact! Thought everyone would find this helpful and interesting.

P.S. For those who don't know who Dr. Amen is, see these great videos for the wonderful work he is doing in psychiatry.

 
Great stuff!
I would just add that the ANT’s (Automatic Negative Thoughts) aren’t necessarily our own.
The enemy of our souls whispers thoughts to us and we accept them as our own. Sometimes we are even upset that we could be generating those thoughts.

Often, the answer to the “I am so stupid!” thought is: yes you are, you would have been much wiser to have stayed in Heaven with the Light. I, however, will not accept the dark side nor his thoughts.
Throw it right back in his face.
 
steve said:
Great stuff!
I would just add that the ANT’s (Automatic Negative Thoughts) aren’t necessarily our own.
The enemy of our souls whispers thoughts to us and we accept them as our own. Sometimes we are even upset that we could be generating those thoughts.

Often, the answer to the “I am so stupid!” thought is: yes you are, you would have been much wiser to have stayed in Heaven with the Light. I, however, will not accept the dark side nor his thoughts.
Throw it right back in his face.
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Amen! Sometimes when I have thoughts that are difficult to run through this sequence, I verbally (out loud) say, "That thought is not true." Hearing myself say it is very refreshing and saying it out loud tells the adversary that I reject that thought. Words carry power and verbalizing it reverberates into the spiritual realm that you reject the "teachings" of the wicked.
 
Gunnar, Dr. Caroline Leaf is a colleague of Dr. Amen's, and I first learned about her work while I was in Iraq. It has been life-changing. She has a conference in Dallas in December, and you can get up to 14 CEUs, if you need it. This will be our third one and each one has been awesome. Let me know if you want any info! Shalom.
 
Tali said:
Gunnar, Dr. Caroline Leaf is a colleague of Dr. Amen's, and I first learned about her work while I was in Iraq. It has been life-changing. She has a conference in Dallas in December, and you can get up to 14 CEUs, if you need it. This will be our third one and each one has been awesome. Let me know if you want any info! Shalom.
Click to expand...
Awesome! When is it in December? I'd love more info!
 
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