E5. Spirits, Unsafe Spaces, & Other Tales of Terror
TherapyBites
10/15/22
•35m
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FRESH from the Therapy Couch: SPIRITS, UNSAFE SPACES, & TALES of TERROR
Today’s Psychotherapy Adventurers: Gamer Girl Heather, Super Bookwork Sarah, & Squirrel Girl Debbie
Go to https://TherapyBites.myshopify.com & grab some A.R.T. LAB MERCH, specially designed to help keep this episode’s message “top of mind” in your life! Don’t forget friends & family members who could use a mental boost too.
Show Summary: In this episode . . .
The demon, gremlin, boogie-man (IUTy - Inaccurate, Unrealistic Thoughts) keeping MOST mental health difficulties FUELED up and ready to light a fire in YOUR life is AVOIDANCE.
Locus of Control - Thinking that externally UNCOMFORTABLE events, situations, circumstances are UNSAFE will program the brain to engage in a fight/flight/freeze response. This response will include the release of a monsoon of stress-related chemicals designed to help you fight very hard, run very fast, or freeze into a statue in order to be safe.
The question is: Where is the danger? Where is the ACTUAL threat to LIMB & LIFE? Usually, there is NONE. It is a response that is not the BEST FIT for the situation and one that is not healthy for you.
Engaging LIFE in all it’s FULLNESS is the BEST way to DIS-engage the dark clawing influence of brain-based demons, gremlins, and boogie-men or, what we refer to at the A.R.T. LAB as IUTy’s: Inaccurate, Unrealistic Thoughts.
GREAT psychotherapy can help you with this re-wiring for healthy thinking but it’s a difficult process that is not meant to be ENJOYED, though it is meant to sculpt your life into a HEALTHIER direction. This does not mean all the difficult pages of your life will be removed but rather your ability to cope with them (i.e., resilience) and even find MEANING & VALUE in them will be greatly enhanced.
No need to avoid situations you don’t prefer. No need to avoid others or label them as manipulators, gaslighters, controlling, or toxic. You have the POWER to set and honor your own boundaries without sacrificing your OWN integrity by placing de-humanizing labels on others.
You can relate without being at risk. Only YOU have power over YOUR OWN thoughts. We FIRST engineer our thoughts THEN our thoughts engineer our lives.
Embrace the DIFFICULT and your mind will RISE to the task and be STRONGER for it.
Visit the TBAL Team at: https://therapybites.ac-page.com/team
CLICK BELOW FOR DAILY LIFE-AFFIRMING, PSYCHOLOGICALLY NUTRITIOUS INFO:
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For the full show notes, visit https://therapybites.podbean.com/e/spirits
FOR OUR READERS . . . GOBBLE UP THE WHOLE THING!!! (Transcript): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1152l0mTgGWzU9JxWdpk2bGybna8YguaTmJ0to1K_9uI/edit?usp=sharing
Previous Episode
E4. Zombies & Depression Quicksand
October 15, 2022
•34m
FRESH from the Therapy Couch: ZOMBIES & DEPRESSION QUICKSAND!!!
Psychotherapy Adventurers: Gamer Girl Heather, Super Bookwork Sarah, & Squirrel Girl Debbie
Go to https://TherapyBites.myshopify.com & grab some A.R.T. LAB MERCH, specially designed to help keep this episode’s message “top of mind” in your life! Don’t forget friends & family members who could use a mental boost too.
Show Summary: In this episode . . .
TherapyBites Podcast is the home of the A.R.T. LAB which investigates, explores, & educates all about the neuroscience of Accurate, Realistic Thoughts & Life Affirming Beliefs.
Today we tackle the dark depths of depression.
As a child, I loved movies about adventurers trekking through jungles checkered with quicksand. The common wisdom was to remain motionless or you’d sink FASTER! Depression is its own kind of quicksand and it’s tempting to let it ZOMBIFY us into stopping all the practices in which we used to find meaning and value.
Differently from the common wisdom of vintage movies, “behavioral deactivation” can make you sink more QUICKLY and more DEEPLY into the depths of depression QUICKSAND. Distorted thoughts - beliefs which aren’t supported by evidence - increase the rate and depth of “sinkage” into the depths of depression.
One of the most sabotaging types of thinking is “emotional reasoning” which is THINKING that any emotion is EVIDENCE. There is no FEELING that is good evidence of being loved or not, your worth, your value, your guilt, or your future. Depression is also deepened by UNDER-thinking which is ignoring important aspects of your value, potential, and worth.
“Motivation” is also NOT an emotion but a DECISION based upon the VALUE & MEANING you attribute to certain tasks and behaviors. Crawling from the quicksand of depression requires realizing the VALUE in life tasks and engaging in them REGARDLESS of any emotions. MOVE - MOVE - MOVE!!!
Visit the TBAL Team at: https://therapybites.ac-page.com/team
CLICK BELOW FOR DAILY LIFE-AFFIRMING, PSYCHOLOGICALLY NUTRITIOUS INFO:
(We love YOUR questions & comments on our social pages)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Y8hab2i3m3YTqO9I7Rcjg
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For the full show notes, visit https://therapybites.podbean.com/e/zombies
FOR OUR READERS . . . GOBBLE UP THE WHOLE THING!!! (Transcript): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VJpBFWOITk5IRfTkoir3LO0LW7JYVrS9PT1pQEuwVWU/edit?usp=sharingNext Episode
E6. Myths, Monsters, & Scary Stress
October 15, 2022
•35m
FRESH from the Therapy Couch: MYTHS, MONSTERS, & SCARY STRESS
Psychotherapy Adventurers: Gamer Girl Heather, Super Bookwork Sarah, & Squirrel Girl Debbie
Go to https://TherapyBites.myshopify.com & grab some A.R.T. LAB MERCH, specially designed to help keep this episode’s message “top of mind” in your life! Don’t forget friends & family members who could use a mental boost too.
Show Summary: In this episode . . .
TherapyBites Podcast is the home of the A.R.T. LAB which investigates, explores, & educates all about the neuroscience of Accurate, Realistic Thoughts & Life Affirming Beliefs.
Today we tackle the CREEPY CORNERS of KILLER STRESS.
Have you been taught that STRESS is the enemy? STRESS is a KILLER?
On today’s episode we discuss some research that has rocked the world of psychological MYTH-conceptions about KILLER STRESS and, guess what? It’s not STRESS that’s the killer at all. The real killer is peering out of your eyeballs as you look into the mirror each morning and that is YOUR “perception”.
Imagine that someone with LOW levels of stress can actually die QUICKER of health-related issues than someone with HIGH levels of stress. The casual factor, as we’ll discuss, is actually how we each decide to catastrophize or DE-catastrophize stress.
Think of stress as a ‘weight’ exerting pressure on your life. If you have the resources to manage it then stress can actually be focusing; even stimulating. Stress can zero us in on an important goal or pursuit. However, demonizing stress tells your brain that you are at RISK and results in a cascade of ill-health inducing chemicals bathing your brain and body; predispositioning you for decline and disease.
The best strategy is COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING; deciding which thoughts to adapt and practice that best serve you, your life, and relationships. We also discuss some ancient philosophical wisdom useful even today.
Visit the TBAL Team at: https://therapybites.ac-page.com/team
CLICK BELOW FOR DAILY LIFE-AFFIRMING, PSYCHOLOGICALLY NUTRITIOUS INFO:
(We love YOUR questions & comments on our social pages)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Y8hab2i3m3YTqO9I7Rcjg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doc.heath/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therapy_bites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/therapy_bites
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/therapy-bites
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Therapy_Bites/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TherapyBitesPodcast/
For the full show notes, visit https://therapybites.podbean.com/e/myths
FOR OUR READERS . . . GOBBLE UP THE WHOLE THING!!! (Transcript): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y6-aPpDvhQ_qBdpD-BEOhAzsnia8EKjBp4GjOPx8_TQ/edit?usp=sharing
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