6 Therapy Skills to Stop Overthinking Everything
Therapy in a Nutshell・13 minutes read
Licensed therapist Emma McAdam shares eight strategies to combat overthinking, including identifying triggers, setting boundaries, and shifting focus to values and concrete actions, emphasizing the importance of seeking professional help like therapy to address chronic overthinking effectively.
Insights
- Overthinking can lead to stress, anxiety, and impact work and personal life, with different types like rumination, future worry, and social anxiety.
- Emma McAdam suggests strategies like noticing triggers, setting limits, shifting focus to values, and seeking professional help like CBT or metacognitive therapy to combat chronic overthinking effectively.
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Recent questions
How can I stop overthinking?
By noticing triggers, setting limits, and shifting focus.
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Summary
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"Emma McAdam: Stop Overthinking, Regain Control"
- Emma McAdam, a licensed therapist, discusses how to stop overthinking in a video.
- Overthinking can lead to stress and anxiety, affecting work performance and personal life.
- Different types of overthinking include rumination about the past, worry about the future, overanalyzing decisions, and social anxiety.
- Emma provides eight ways to stop overthinking and regain control of your thoughts.
- The first skill is noticing and naming overthinking, identifying triggers and setting alarms to track rumination.
- Setting limits on overthinking involves scheduling worry time and writing down thoughts to create boundaries.
- Attention shifting is crucial, separating yourself from negative thoughts and choosing which ones to focus on.
- Shifting focus from abstract to concrete thinking helps in taking actionable steps rather than dwelling on vague questions.
- Shifting focus to values and what truly matters in life can help redirect energy away from overthinking.
- Retraining the brain to focus on the present moment and practical actions can reduce overthinking and improve mental health.
13:12
Overcome overthinking by identifying core values
- To combat chronic overthinking, individuals are advised to identify their core values and purpose in life, potentially utilizing a values exercise from a YouTube course on processing emotions to gain clarity.
- While distraction can temporarily alleviate overthinking, it is cautioned against as it may lead to avoidance and a loss of meaning in life. Instead, individuals are encouraged to seek professional help, such as therapy utilizing approaches like CBT, ACT, or metacognitive therapy, to address overthinking and related issues effectively.
