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1) By the end of my time here in the Occupational Therapy program I will participate in one interprofessional simulation.

2)By the end of my time in the UNE MSOT program I will be able to identify when I am feeling burnt out and overwhelmed to improve my emotional intelligence. To work towards this goal I will reflect on my mood/feelings each night.

3) By the end of my time in the UNE MSOT program I will become a mentor to one year one students or in a virtual way through personal occupational therapy student instagram.

4) By the end of my time in the UNE MSOT program I will accept at least 3 constructive criticism comments from a peer and faculty member without getting upset and being hard on myself.

5)By the end of my time in the UNE MSOT program I will be able to voice my thoughts and opinions respectfully when it comes to teamwork.

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I chose the Kawa Model as one of my artifacts because I thought it was an interesting way to visually see individuals rivers and different aspects. I am a very visual person so being able to see different factors that are negative or positive as well as the highlights and lowlights is very interesting to me. When I was asked to draw my own river for foundations I was agitated at first because I do not think of myself as a creative individual. However, I really enjoyed it. It opened up my eyes to see that there were not as many rocks as I thought there would be. There was an equal balance of rocks and driftwood. I really enjoy this model and although I don't know what population I want to work with yet I may use this model in my future work. I also believe it is a great tool to visually see an individual's barriers and supports.

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In our Occupational Analysis class we discussed the teach back method and it's importance. I used this method in my simulation for my TUS class without even realizing it. However, after discussing this in OA I realized how important it is to have our clients use this. If our clients do not fully understand what their treatment is then it may not be effective. I will try my best to establish this method in almost all my treatments in some way.

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This is just a reminder for me to not be so hard on myself. It is okay to have hard days, not every day in practice will be great. I need to remember that and practice self-care and not beat myself up. In TUS we came up with goals and one of my goals was surrounded by emotional regulation and not being hard on myself. By having a reminder like this it has helped me ease my emotions. No one is going to want a therapist that cries because they are flustered.

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I came across this "meme" on instagram after the barbie movie came out and I thought it was funny. I try to be funny and have fun at work (when appropriate). This is important for advocacy on what OT is. Before coming into OT school and having to make elevator speeches I often said OT is like PT but we are very different.

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This is just a reminder to me that it is totally okay to not know what specialty I want to go in. I am still learning and that will come soon.

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In our TUS class we had to run a group for our peers. My partner and I were teaching our peers how to make stress balls and everything that could have gone wrong. We were stressed that because our plan did not go exactly how we had hoped we were going to fail. Receiving this feedback made me realize that not every therapy session in my future will go how i expect it to and I need to accept the possible challenges and keep rolling.

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During my advising meeting with my advisor and a conversation with another professor I talked about how I have high standards for myself and that I am a perfectionist. These professors listened to me and validated my feelings. However, they also told me to be kind to myself and not be so hard on myself. I've heard this before and just brushed it off but then I realized that they are right I shouldn't be so hard on myself. My future job won't care if I get straight A's, they just want to know I am competent in the field and can be a wonderful OT. My friends even reminded me that at the end of the day the doctor that got C's is still a doctor. I am trying to be kinder to myself and not stress about the grades and realize they don't define me

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"Why isn't there a secretary of health that recognizies that health is more than health vs disease as well as fighting insurance companies".- Dr. Matthew Molineux

This conversation came up in my Diverse Voices interview with Dr.Molineux when I had asked him how I as a future OTP can best help my clients and make sure occupation is the fore front of my therapy sessions. This opened up my eyes to how important it is to advocate for not only my clients but also the profession. Insurance should not tell us what we can and can't do. I want to make sure I can comfortable advocate for my clients and the field.

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Dynamic Model of Occupation Based Practice

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This artifact came about when Wendy Stav spoke to the class about this model. This model resonated with me and how we should remember to make sure therapy is meaningful to my client and have them engage because they want to not so much because they have to.

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Hi! Welcome back OT school and me. In today's podcast I have a special guest, Becca M making us Becca squared. We talked about Autism and the world of OT.

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I came across this after our 2nd kinesiology exam where my outcome wasn't what I had hoped it to be. I was comparing myself to others then I realized I won't grow if I continue to do that.I need to focus on myself and not compare myself.

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Welcome back to OT school and me! Today I will be talking about the Person-environment-occupation performance model. I will also apply the model to my transition to OT school!

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Welcome back to OT school and me! In this documentary I discuss theory and professional reasoning and how it relates to the documentary Jacinta.

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Welcome back to OT school and me! Today's podcast I talk about technology and occupations- this discussion is centered around Roger Smith's 2017 Slage lecture "Technology and Occupation: Past,Present, and the Next 100 years of Theory and Practice".

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Welcome to OT school with me podcast number one. In this podcast I introduce myself so you get to know me a little bit better and I discuss professionalism and personal identity.

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1) I will continuously educate myself by attending workshops, working towards CEUS. Just because I have my degree does not mean my education stops at graduation and the NBCOT. There’s always more to learn about the profession.

2) As an Occupational therapy student and even as an OTR/L. I will continuously advocate for the field of occupational therapy and the needs for my clients. I want my clients to be able to engage in the occupations they love to engage in. I ideally would love to have a seat at the table with insurance companies and have a buy-in on what OT services can look like.

3)As an occupational therapist I would like to use my experience studying abroad in Morocco and UNE's program and raise awareness about OT internationally. I would love to raise awareness to proper medical care and long term care especially from an occupational therapy perspective. Awareness around OT and our services is important in countries like Morocco because they are very occupational beings- meaning they farm their own food, they engage in textiles they are constantly using their hands and working. If an individual has barriers to occupational performance they may not know what their next steps are. I would like to achieve this goal within 10 years of becoming an OTR/L. To help meet this goal I can also use the network I already have of host families and faculty from the UNE Morocco campus.

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8 Easy Tips for Occupational Therapy Advocacy

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Occupational therapy advocacy is key to the growth and sustainability of our profession. Clients constantly question the difference of occupational therapy compared to physical therapy, and why they must participate if they "have not worked in a job in years." With this confusion, our profession has been able to explain and elaborate on the roles ...

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The 'therapeutic use of self' is a term that is often used in occupational therapy and other therapies. However, many clinicians do not know what the therapeutic use of self is, or why it is so important. Read on to find out more...

Therapeutic use of self 'The thoughtful and deliberate use of one’s personality, opinions and judgments as a component of the therapeutic process' (Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 2009)

The term originates from philosophy and the theories of self. This demonstrates that researchers and practitioners acknowledge that, if you are asking a research question, completing research, running a business, or delivering care or a service, you will be influencing the outcome. What does this really mean though - and can therapy be delivered without considering the therapeutic use of self?

Why is therapeutic use of self important?

Asayand Lambert (1999) investigated what influenced change in psychotherapy clients, separating the possible influences for change into: therapeutic relationship, extra-therapeutic change (e.g. support, personality or 'ego strength'), placebo and technique. The results from their meta-analysis are as follows:

This indicates that therapy cannot be delivered without considering how the therapist is influencing the outcome, through their therapeutic use of self. If the therapeutic use of self is so important, more so than technique, shouldn’t there be a general consensus about how therapists are going to influence change?

Techniques to consider when using therapeutic use of self

Carl Beuhner is quoted as saying 'they may forget what you said - but they will never forget how you made them feel.' Consequently, therapists and care providers need to consider how they are making their clients feel. Ask yourself: are you rushing around and not giving clients the time they need when you are delivering care or treatment? We all do this at times because everyone is stretched, but if that feeling influences outcomes by 30%, then haven’t you just ruined the opportunity for change, by letting the client know you don’t have time for them?

'They may forget what you said - but they will never forget how you made them feel' - Carl Beuhner

The first technique then is attunement.

Attunement is the ability to be completely present with the client, developing a feeling of connectedness with them. The majority of the work around this is from psychotherapies however, as an occupational therapist, don’t you pride yourself as having origins in arts and crafts, psychology, architecture, nursing, social work, philosophy, teaching and psychiatry? Therefore, you should be considering all of these aspects within your work, both in everything you do and in what you recommend. Within attunement you should be considering what your body language is saying, how your tone of voice is delivering the message, if your facial expressions and body language (including eye contact) match what you are saying and if you need to mirror the client in order for them to recognise that they have your full attention.

The second technique is providing the client with unconditional positive regard.

Unconditional positive regard is the ability to accept that the client is trying their best and accepting where they are at that time. This does not mean you have to agree with their choices or even like them as a person. However, it does mean that you are providing client-centred care and treatment - whilst allowing the client to make mistakes, through their ability to make their own self-determined choices.

Self-disclosure is the third technique.

There are two types of self-disclosure; intra-session disclosure and extra-session disclosure. Intra-session refers to reflecting how something they have done or has happened during the session has made you feel. Extra-session disclosure is disclosing information about yourself, whether that be previous qualifications, family life or interests and events. Self-disclosure can be a positive experience for the client, building rapport with them and developing a therapeutic alliance. However, Leanne Hall states there are five golden rules to self-disclosure:

Waiting

Being brief

Being clear that this is your opinion

Considering the client’s values

Considering the impact self-disclosure is going to have

Waiting refers to the therapist considering why they are self-disclosing, whilst being brief is to ensure the client does not feel the therapist is hijacking their session. Therapists also need to ensure that when they are self-disclosing the client knows this is their opinion and is not part of their clinical expertise or experience, as the statement could be contrary to the client’s own beliefs and values.

Additionally, if the statement is contrary to the client’s own beliefs and values, consider if this self-disclosure is going to jeopardise the therapeutic relationship and alienate the client? This then leads to the final factor of considering the impact that self-disclosure can have, as clients may be left feeling burdened by the self-disclosure rather than aligned with the therapist. Whilst these 'golden rules' ensure self-disclosure is used appropriately, it is important to remember that it can assist the client with humanising the therapist.

The final technique is the ability to balance the power differential.

Clients often believe that the therapist or professional has greater power than them. However, this belief can lead to self-helplessness, whereas a therapist should be promoting self-empowerment and self-help. Therefore, it is essential to understand the client’s background and culture, whilst presenting yourself in an honest and congruent way. That means the power imbalance should be addressed during therapy or care. The acknowledgement that you may know more about a particular solution to their problem based on your training and experience should be made, whist acknowledging that they are the expert about themselves, their culture, their expectations and their own lives. The client and the therapist should then be working together to problem solve how the “solution” that the therapist suggests can be integrated into the client’s life, based on the information the client has about themselves.

Summary

In summary, based on my research and training, the therapeutic use of self encompasses four techniques:

Attunement

Unconditional positive regard

Self-disclosure

Balancing the power differential

If therapists and care providers incorporate these techniques in a positive and helpful way for the client, without hijacking the client’s treatment or care, then better outcomes should be gained.

To read similar articles, visit Therapy Buzz

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Therapy cannot be delivered without considering how the therapist is influencing the outcome, through their therapeutic use of self... 'They may forget what you said - but they will never forget how you made them feel' (Carl Beuhner).

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Improving your Therapeutic Use of Self and Why it's Such an Important Part of Therapy

If you are a therapist, you have probably heard the term "therapeutic use of self." Do you know what it means? Do you understand how to implement it into your daily treatments?

Today, we talk about what that term actually means and how you can focus on improving your ability to use it, in order to provide better treatments for your clients.

Parents and family members - this is a great episode to learn more about what therapists SHOULD be doing during treatment sessions. Do you feel like your child's therapist is utilizing their therapeutic use of self effectively? If not, what can you do? Don't be afraid to ask questions and find out how your therapist is doing!

Our Primitive Reflex Crash Course is LIVE and available for you to purchase today! Click to check it out!

Interested in our exclusive membership club (aka "the podcast on steroids")? Head over to where we provide you with The Harkla Sensory Club new resources monthly, to help you and your child thrive (whether you're a parent, caregiver, therapist, educator - there's something for everyone!).

What Is Therapeutic Use Of Self & Why It Is Important?

As many occupational therapy instructors inform their students of the definition and significance of therapeutic sense of self, comparatively few show how to apply those teachings in real-world settings. It is commonplace for individuals starting their career as an occupational therapist or assistant to gain experiential knowledge through day-to-day activities on the job. However, we have the unique opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of these children, adults, and their families.

The Therapeutic Use of Self Defined

The definitions of therapeutic use of self are best articulated by MyOTSpot.com and LifeLongLearningWithOT.wordpress.com - both invaluable resources for the subject matter!

As My OT Spot notes, the therapeutic use of self is "a means for encouraging clients to engage in occupation. It's the planned use of his or her personality, insights, perceptions and judgments as part of the therapeutic process. It creates a meaningful relationship between the therapist and the patient in order to produce meaningful participation and progress in occupations that matter to the patient."

Additionally, the LifeLong Learning with OT outlines therapeutic use of self as "being aware of yourself, your verbal language, body language, what personal information you choose to share while interacting with a client, and using your own personality and interpersonal skills to build rapport and ultimately, make the client feel at ease, motivated, and that they can trust you."

To understand the core of therapeutic use, it is essential to recognize how we interact with each client and adjust our conduct based on their style. As opposed to utilizing identical methods for everyone, we should customize our strategy so that each individual's needs are met. We have to be able modify what we say accordingly in order for it to resonate with the specific context at hand.

The Importance Of Therapeutic Use Of Self

As therapists, it is all too common to become trapped in a pattern of repeating the same thing over and again. It's easy for us to get distracted from our clients, slowly detaching ourselves as we continue working with them. To break free from this cycle, we must take extra effort steps to ensure that each client receives undivided attention throughout their entire therapy journey!

From time to time, we've all felt a sense of burnout due to numerous reasons. Oftentimes, it is caused by something going on in our personal lives. When you become tired or exhausted and your attention towards providing great service for clients starts slipping away, this could be an indication that you are experiencing burnout. Regrettably, therapists often feel overwhelmed with their workloads; however they soldier on because it's part of the job!

If we wish to help our clients reduce their heightened emotional state and provide a comforting therapeutic experience, it is essential that we manage our own levels of burnout first. We cannot possibly calm them down if we are still in fight or flight mode ourselves; instead, the therapist must maintain an even-keeled demeanor so they can act as a beacon of security for their client.

Remember that, if you are undergoing any personal issues at the moment, it is still possible to utilize therapeutic use of self while helping your client. However, it's important to be able to differentiate between these two roles and separate them temporarily in order for you to properly focus on aiding the client.

How to Become More Aware of Your Own Therapeutic Use of Self

By taking the time to engage in self-reflection, we can gain invaluable insight into ourselves and our clients that will help us make meaningful changes. To get you started on your journey toward enhanced therapeutic efficacy, here are five effective tips, tricks, and strategies for harnessing your therapeutic use of self with lasting results.

Tip #1: Be Mindful Of Your Interactions With Your Clients!

Be mindful of your physical stance in any situation, whether you think someone may be watching or not. Pay attention to the messages that your body language is conveying, such as:

Are your arms crossed?

Are you sitting down?

Are you engaged with your client?

Are you smiling? Is your client smiling?

Are the activities that you are doing skill-based? Do they require your knowledge and expertise in order to be completed, or could they just be done at home without your help?

Are you providing your client feedback?

We all have our off days, so if you are working with a client who is struggling with anger and emotional regulation issues, use your own experiences to guide their learning. Use this as an opportunity for the client to learn about self-regulation strategies and how to work through difficult emotions. Everyone goes through hardships; show them that with resilience we can overcome those moments of hardship in life.

Tip #2: Build Your Interpersonal Skills!

How can you do this? You can attend workshops, complete continuing education courses, and invest in programs geared towards helping therapists build their skills beyond traditional treatments. Focus on those subjects that will help you be a better therapist through self-reflection and growth.

Acquire knowledge! Educate yourself on how to communicate with diverse groups of people. You will undoubtedly encounter multiple sets of diagnoses and cultures, particularly since we live in a world full of varied backgrounds. Being aware and understanding your own biases is critical for learning how to interact with those from different cultural backgrounds - this skill set can come in handy quite often.

To further develop your skills, try recording yourself performing simulated activities with a family member. This can be done on either your phone or computer's camera and will allow you to watch the video back in order to assess your performance. Remember that this should not be done while interacting with a client!

Tip #3: Learn About Your Client And Their Family!

Establishing a successful relationship with children requires learning more about them. Therefore, it is important to take the time to understand their interests and beliefs as well as what they like or dislike. Furthermore, get acquainted with their family structure, cultural background, religion and familiarize yourself with any rules of conduct in their household before you engage further.

Connect with the children's parents on a personal level by asking them personalized questions and making comments related to each individual child. This demonstrates your attention, presence, and interest in their growth, while also offering an opportunity for them to nurture important social skills. When you authentically invest in the lives of these students' families and show that you genuinely care about more than just teaching - it can be absolutely transformative!

It's of the utmost importance to take care of your mental and physical health before being able to properly care for those around you. So, be sure to check in with yourself regularly!

Are you feeling well?

Are you feeling exhausted and worn out?

Are you feeling the effects of burnout? If you want to make some improvements, now's the time to reach out and discuss with your supervisor and team.

Are you doing more restful activities outside of work?

Achieving a healthy work-life balance can be difficult, particularly if you take your professional responsibilities seriously. You may find yourself bringing the job home with you from time to time - an endeavor that is understandably stressful. To manage this issue, it's essential to establish and maintain clear boundaries between home life and work life.

Tip #5: Communicate!

To foster a strong team and relationships, you must communicate. Speak with your colleagues, supervisor, and family members openly about successes, failures, opportunities for improvement or growth. Collaboration is essential to maximize potential within teams; by communicating often and regularly everyone can benefit from each other's insight.

Articulating your feelings to others can help you apply therapeutic use of self, as it not only encourages reflection but may also provide solutions to:

Why has my client not been making progress?

Why has this family chosen to discontinue working with me?

Are you pushing yourself to reach your maximum potential, and what can we do together to help further develop those successes?

When you cultivate a spirit of openness, growth opportunities, and collaboration with your colleagues in the occupational therapy, speech therapy, or physical therapy field- it is the key to building an effective team. By maintaining strong communication with each other and embracing these attitudes towards work ethics, you will create a unified group that can achieve great things together.

Enhance Your Therapeutic Use of Self Skills

Even though it's not natural, you can develop the skill of therapeutic use of self with practice. If you're having trouble establishing a connection with your clients, accepting and learning from feedback is essential to make progress. You must be open-minded and willing to evolve in order for positive changes to occur; otherwise nothing will improve!

It is also essential for parents to understand the power of advocating for your child. If you don't feel as if the therapist is making a meaningful connection with your family and utilizing their therapeutic use of self to its fullest potential, then please know that searching for another provider who meets these needs is more than acceptable.

By reflecting on the ways therapeutic use of self has positively impacted your professional life, you will be better able to capitalize on these experiences and utilize them more effectively in the future.
BORING, BUT NECESSARY LEGAL DISCLAIMERS
Comments will be approved before showing up. This podcast should not be used in any legal capacity whatsoever, including but not limited to establishing "standard of care" in a legal sense or as a basis for expert witness testimony. No guarantee is given regarding the accuracy of any statements or opinions made on the podcast.

While we make every effort to share correct information, we are still learning. We will double check all of our facts but realize that medicine is a constantly changing science and art. One doctor / therapist may have a different way of doing things from another. We are simply presenting our views and opinions on how to address common sensory challenges, health related difficulties and what we have found to be beneficial that will be as evidenced based as possible. By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use this podcast as medical advice to treat any medical condition in either yourself or your children. Consult your child's pediatrician/ therapist for any medical issues that he or she may be having. This entire disclaimer also applies to any guests or contributors to the podcast. Under no circumstances shall Rachel Harrington, Harkla, Jessica Hill, or any guests or contributors to the podcast, as well as any employees, associates, or affiliates of Harkla, be responsible for damages arising from use of the podcast.

Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.

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#106 - Improving your Therapeutic Use of Self and Why it's Such an Important Part of Therapy

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Listen & Subscribe on Your Platform of Choice: Improving your Therapeutic Use of Self and Why it's Such an Important Part of Therapy If you are a therapist, you have probably heard the term "therapeutic use of self." Do you know what it means? Do you understand how to implement it into your daily treatments?

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Emotions signal threats and rewards. Much like a compass that guides us in the right direction, emotions have the power to guide us to the right actions.

For example, when a child commits a mistake, they might get scared and lie to their parents about it, or avoid confronting them for fear of punishment.

Their parents may eventually discover what they did and the child, in all probability will end up facing the same consequences that they were trying to avoid. In this instance, listening and responding to the 'fear' emotion proved futile to the child.

However, the same emotion (fear) would have proven helpful for someone being chased by a wild animal in the forest. In that situation, running to avoid confronting the savage beast would have been the correct decision.

It is therefore crucial to judge when to trust emotional triggers and act on them, and when not to; in other words, it is essential for us to understand how to regulate or control our emotions so we could use them optimally.

In this article, we will discuss the psychology of emotional regulation - what it means, how we can cultivate it, and what methods we can choose to implement emotional management in real life.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free. These science-based exercises will not only enhance your ability to understand and regulate your emotions but will also give you the tools to foster the emotional intelligence of your clients, students or employees.

What is Emotional Regulation? A Definition

"Emotional regulation refers to the process by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express their feelings. Emotional regulation can be automatic or controlled, conscious or unconscious, and may have effects at one or more points in the emotion producing process."

(Gross, 1998, p. 275).

The definition of emotional regulation encompasses both positive and negative feelings, along with how we can strengthen them, use them, and control them.

Emotional regulation involves three components:

Initiating actions triggered by emotions.

Inhibiting actions triggered by emotions.

Modulating responses triggered by emotions.

Ideally, the third component is the best way to make the most of the regulatory processes.

Every day, we face hundreds of emotion-provoking stimuli, and most of them require some action or response from our end. It is only natural for the mind to get hooked into some negative contemplation or unmindfully ignore emotions after getting bombarded with so many stimuli every day (Davidson, 1998).

Emotional regulation acts as a modifier; it helps us filter the most important pieces of information and motivates us to attend to it in a way that wouldn't evoke stress or fear.

Studies on emotional regulation indicate that there is a significant positive correlation between emotion regulation and depression management. People with lower levels of anxiety show higher emotional control and social-emotional intelligence.

Research indicates that emotions are adaptive responses that have a deep-rooted basis in evolutionary biology (Levenson, 1999). The way we feel and interpret them affects how we think, how we decide, and how we coordinate our actions in day-to-day lives.

For example, a person who has poor emotion regulation strategies is more likely to fall prey to mood polarities; their actions and behavioral patterns would always be at the mercy of their emotions.

Quite the contrary, a well-regulated person, will have a better balance and judgment of their feelings and actions. Emotional regulation allows us to carefully judge which affective outcomes to embrace and which ones to avoid (Wegner, Erber, & Zanakos, 1993).

When we confront a provoking stimulus, the natural reaction of the brain is to activate the amygdala, a brain site that regulates the fight-or-flight responses (Lee, 2018; Van der Kolk, 1994). Emotional regulation processes allow us to buy time before we act on the fight or flight triggers.

Kris Lee, a Professor and the author of the book Mentalligence: A New Psychology of Thinking-Learn What It Takes to be More Agile, Mindful, and Connected in Today's World says that with emotional regulation, we can allow the initial upsurge of emotions to settle down and zoom out of the situation before reacting to it.

The increased time gap between stimulus and response restores the mental faculties that involve rational thinking and reasoning. As a result, we can save ourselves from sudden emotional breakdowns or burnout.

6 Most Useful Emotional Regulation Skills for Adults

Self-regulation is all about pausing between feeling and reactions - it encourages us to slow down for a bit and act after objectively evaluating a situation. For example, a student who yells at others and hits their friends for petty reasons surely has less emotional control than a child who, before hitting or yelling, tells the teacher about their problems.

Another huge aspect of emotional regulation is value engagement. When we react impulsively without paying much attention to what is going on inside, we might often deviate from our core values and act in a way that is opposite to them. With proper regulation and self-control, we gain the power to stay calm under pressure and prevent ourselves from acting against our core values and ethics.

Here are some skills that can help in cultivating emotional regulation and sustaining it during challenging times in life.

1. Self-awareness

Noticing what we feel and naming it is a great step toward emotional regulation. For example, when you feel bad, ask yourself - Am I feeling sad, hopeless, ashamed, or anxious?

Give yourself some options and explore your feelings. Try to name the specific emotions that you can feel intensely within yourself at that very moment, and write it down if you want. You need not act or judge the cause and effect of your emotions at this stage; all you need is complete awareness of each feeling that is controlling your mind 'right now.'

2. Mindful awareness

In addition to gaining thought awareness, mindfulness lets us explore and identify all aspects of the external world, including our body. Simple mindful exercises such as breath control or sensory relaxation can calm the storm inside and guide our actions in the right way.

3. Cognitive reappraisal

Cognitive reappraisal includes altering the way we think. It is an essential component of psychotherapies like CBT, DBT, and Anger Management, and calls for greater acceptance and flexibility.

Cognitive reappraisal skills may include practices such as thought replacement or situational role reversals, where we try to look into a stressful situation from a whole new perspective.

For example, we can replace thoughts like 'My boss hates me', 'I am no longer needed here', etc. with alternatives such as, 'My boss is upset at this moment, I am sure I can make up for this', or 'I know I am hard working and honest, let me give it another try', etc.. By doing so, we gain a broader and better perception of our problems and react to them with more positivity.

4. Adaptability

Emotional dysregulation lowers our adaptability to life changes. We become more prone to distractions and fail our coping mechanisms, which is why we often start resisting changes. A great exercise to build adaptability is objective evaluation.

For example, when you feel bogged down by stressful emotions that you want to avoid, and you might end up destructively reacting to them, take a moment to think what if your best friend was experiencing the same thing? What would you have suggested they do under these circumstances? Write your answers if you want to and try to think if you are following the same steps for yourself!

5. Self-compassion

Setting aside some time for ourselves every day is a great way to build emotional regulation skills. Reminding ourselves of our talents and virtues, and letting our minds land on a flexible space can immensely change the way we feel and react to our emotions.

Some simple self-compassion hacks involve:

Daily positive self-affirmations

Relaxation and breath control

Compassion meditation

Regular self-care

Gratitude journaling

6. Emotional support

Psychologists believe that we all have the innate capacity to build a robust emotional repertoire and save our mental energy from getting invested in negativity. We can seek emotional support within ourselves by practicing mindful self-awareness or can seek help outside by engaging in positive communication with others.

It is okay to see a therapist or professional when our inner coping fails; the sole focus is to create a positive emotional shield that can channelize our emotions to bring out the best in us.

Science-Based Emotion Regulation Strategies

Literary resources on emotional regulation have provided a myriad of solutions for emotional dysregulation. While all the self-regulation strategies are undoubtedly useful and practical, the problem arises when we have to choose the best plan for us (Gross, 2015; Ochsner, Silvers, & Buhle, 2012).

Most scientific research on emotional regulation focus on either a particular age group that could benefit from the strategy, or a specific situation in which it works the best (Webb, Miles, & Sheeran, 2012). Little is said about the scientific methods that we could use for taming our feelings at all times.

Recent studies, however, have shed some light in this regard. Researchers nowadays agree that emotion regulation should not be constrained to a time frame or a group of individuals under a specific circumstance, and have proposed a few scientific strategies that could guide us at all times (Aldao, 2013; Gross, 2015).

1. Reappraisal

Reappraisal or cognitive reappraisal ensures long-term wellbeing and offers a permanent solution to emotional distress. Through re-evaluation, we do not aim to suppress or eliminate the negative emotions that cause pain forcefully, instead, we look for better ways of dealing with it (Davis, Senghas, Brandt, & Ochsner, 2010).

In addition to finding appropriate and positive substitutes of the problems, cognitive reappraisal also shifts our focus from the distress and reduces the impact of the negative emotion for a while (Troy, Shallcross, & Mauss, 2013).

2. Self-soothing

Self-soothing, in any form, can reduce the toxic effects of anger, sadness, and agony that negative experiences bring (Heiy & Cheavens, 2014). Scientists believe that self-soothing, as opposed to self-confrontation, guarantees better and quicker answers when it comes to managing thoughts and emotions.

We can practice several variations of self-soothing exercises, including:

Self-compassion and loving-kindness meditation.

Music meditation, where we set aside some minutes to listen to music and unwind ourselves with the relaxing sound.

Reminiscence therapy, which works great for resolving emotional conflicts involving other people. The practice involves merely sitting and trying to recollect all the good memories we have once had with the person we are now struggling with.

Breathing exercises, including breath control, breath counting, and simple breath relaxation.

Simple self-care such as a hot bath, a relaxing massage, cooking for yourself, etc.

3. Attentional control

Attentional control starts with reappraisal. It aims to divert our attention away from the negative emotion and allows us to look at it from a rewarding perspective.

For example, we can overpower the irresistible anger and shame that follows an insult or abuse from someone, by thinking of it as a lesson that taught you to avoid building connections with rude people.

By focusing more on what you learned from the conflict, you not only save yourself from the severe stress and agony, but you also gain a perspective of how you can avoid such interpersonal disputes later. As a result, you are successful in modulating your responses to the negative encounter and restoring your mental peace altogether (Gross & John, 2003).

What is Emotional Regulation Disorder?

As the name indicates, emotional regulation disorder is a condition of impaired or dysfunctional ability to regulate and manage emotions optimally. Emotional Dysregulation (ED) is a term mental health specialists use for emotional responses that are weakly managed and deviate from the accepted range of positive reactions.

The emotional regulation disorder is often manifested by symptoms such as:

Sudden and unexplained anger outbursts that get displaced to someone who did not cause any harm. May include passive-aggressive patterns of behavior.

Somatoform symptoms such as chronic pain and illness not caused by any medical condition and remain unexplained by medical professionals.

Self-destruction or self-harming behavior, including extreme thoughts of suicide.

Difficulty in building and maintaining healthy social relationships in personal and professional fields.

Attentional dysregulation, including the inability to focus on meaningful work because the mind is too occupied with negative thoughts and emotions.

Hypersensitivity and poor self-control.

The worst part of Emotion Regulation Disorder is that it mostly comes in association with other mental health issues such as depression, stress, or extreme mood polarities, and therefore, management requires an overall intervention plan for addressing all the associated problems.

The most common intervention psychologists use for managing EDD is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), in combination with some cognitive strategies and emotional support adjuncts.

The prognosis of Emotional Regulation Disorder is relatively good, considering the number of practical interventions that we could use. The best results are, however, seen when the person chooses to take charge of it soon and participates in a long-term treatment plan.

5 Tips for Fostering Emotional Regulation in Children

Emotional regulation is an absolute necessity for academic, social, and moral development in children. Parents often find it overwhelming to find the right way to teach emotional regulation to their children and help them deal with the inevitable stressors of everyday life.

Emotional perception and management are never the same for two people, which is why successfully training someone to regulate their emotions can be a difficult task. However, psychologists over the years have come up with some great solutions to this problem.

Here are some hacks that parents and carers can use to cultivate emotional regulation in youngsters (Toub, Rajan, Golinkoff, & Hirsh-Pasek, 2016).

1. Model the right behavior

Children learn best through observation. Showing them what to do rather than verbally directing is sure to generate better results. For example, a child grows up with parents who treat each other with respect and resolve their conflicts without being abusive, will learn to be more emotionally balanced and resilient than a child who grows up with aggressive and abusive parents.

It is essential to show children that positivity is the 'only' way to deal with stressors, and the best way to do it is by practicing the same ourselves.

2. Delay response time

Encourage the child not to give immediate reactions. Whenever the kid gets angry or is sad, ask them to hold back for a while and react after that. The delay in response time allows the fight-or-flight response to settle down, and in all probability, the child would respond less intensely than they would otherwise have.

3. Work on the child's emotional vocabulary

Self-expression works great for emotional regulation in children. Often, a child experiences something that they are unable to explain, and the frustration that follows leads to an unpleasant reaction that is not acceptable.

A useful strategy is to create a chart with all the emotions named in it, with examples or face illustrations of how the particular passion makes us feel. Being able to call the feelings they are experiencing makes a child more vigilant and aware of their innermost feelings, and reduces the chances of emotional outbursts.

4. Teach them about actions and consequences

When a child is aware of what their actions might bring to them, they will likely choose their steps carefully. Whether in the classroom or at home, we can engage in meaningful conversations with kids about what is an action and what could be its consequences. For example, teachers and parents could make a chart and list some activities with their potential impacts and ask the child to decide which actions they would choose.

5. Let them detect stress

The goal of fostering emotional regulation in children is to make them self-dependent as a person in the future. There are particular situations, people, or events that create stress in children, for example, going to school away from parents, getting scolded by teachers, or someone taking away their favorite toy.

If we could devote some time to help them identify the little things that bring unpleasant feelings in them, it can go a long way in making them aware of their stressors and provide them the strength to deal with their emotions effectively as they grow up.

What is DBT and How Does it Relate?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a cognitive and behavior-oriented psychotherapy that relies on active communication to address mental health issues. DBT is especially useful for treating personality disorders like BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) where individuals lose track of their emotional control mechanisms.

The core principle of DBT is that the arousal levels in different stressful encounters vary from person to person. For example, the way an adolescent would react to their parent's death would be different from how a 50-year-old person would respond to parental loss, and needless to mention, the consequences of these reactions would hugely differ too (Kleindienst et al., 2011).

Again, a person who is timid and shy would react differently to any abuse from an extravert and friendly person. By considering these individual differences, DBT makes the interventions precise and person-centered.

In its pure form, DBT is:

Supportive - in the way it helps individuals understand and manage their emotional experiences and reactions.

Cognitive - because it emphasizes thoughts and acknowledges the fact that our emotions arise from the way we think and interpret the contemplations.

Mutual - as it requires equal amounts of attention and effort from the client and the therapist. Much like CBT interventions, DBT also relies on collaborative exercises, activities, and homework that help in assessing progress.

The reason why DBT is suitable for dealing with emotional regulation disorder is that it lets individuals learn, acknowledge, and change their faulty thought patterns themselves (Siever & Davis, 1991). DBT doesn't coerce solutions or rush to diagnosis; it operates on the belief that unless we can internalize the positive emotions and learn to use them ourselves, no therapy can be good enough to make us happier.

DBT skills for emotional management includes:

Learning and identification of negative and positive emotions.

Labeling and naming emotions.

Reducing emotional vulnerability and hypersensitivity.

Gaining awareness about how we are feeling at the present moment.

Understanding desirable actions and implementing them in real life situations.

Enhancing stress management and coping techniques (Bohus et al., 2004; Linehan, Armstrong, Suarez, Allmon, & Heard, 1991).

4 Emotional Regulation Activities & Exercises

Below are four exercises that can be practiced by anyone. Breathing regulation exercises are useful in a variety of settings, and just being mindful of emotions in general can benefit any person.

1. Breathing exercises for emotional regulation

Three main breathing exercises help in modulating emotions:

Breath Counting - Where we sit calmly for a few seconds and slowly start counting. For example, you can count 5 to inhale and 7 to exhale. The goal of this exercise is to focus on our breathing and follow the counting as we inhale and exhale.

Breath Shifting - Here we place one hand on our chest and the other hand on our abdomen and notice how they rise and fall with each inhales and exhales. By doing so, we aim to see the difference between the chest and belly movement during breathing, and it helps in regaining focus into our bodies.

Breath Relaxation - Breath relaxation is the most basic breathing exercise and practically works well for any stress, anxiety, or emotional disorder. The practice is to sit back and take deep breaths with eyes closed, and continue doing so until we can feel the connection between our mind and body, and realize the stress and negativity are fading away with the deep breaths.

2. Exercise for emotional catharsis

The most significant problem of emotional dysregulation disorder is the inability to let go of emotions. Even after realizing the inappropriateness of irrational thoughts, they find it hard to eliminate them from the mind (Singer et al., 2012). Through emotional catharsis, which is a way of venting out the suppressed emotions, we can achieve the mental balance that we often seek.

The practice is simple and involves five easy steps:

Observing emotions as they are, without trying to change them at the first instance.

Trying to evaluate the experience and feelings that come with a particular emotion.

Acknowledging the fact that we are not our emotions. For example, if we are feeling sad, it doesn't have to mean that we are depressed individuals. Emotions are just a state of mind; they come and go.

Naming the emotions aloud or writing them the way you feel it.

Talking about them to a friend, family, or therapist, without being afraid of judgment.

3. Mindfulness for emotions

We know that mindfulness is the art of living in the present moment. Practicing mindfulness helps us gaining awareness of our mind, body, and feelings. It builds a secure connection to the present and allows us to look at our thoughts and feelings from an objective and neutral perspective.

There are two types of mindfulness exercises that help in emotional regulation:

The 'Acknowledgment' Exercises - including careful observation, naming thoughts, and labeling emotions.

The 'Implementation' Exercises - including practices of thinking non-judgmentally, active and empathetic listening, effective communication, and self-expression.

4. Self-awareness techniques

Self-awareness, for the most of it, is a counterpart of mindfulness and is tied in with recognizing one's own emotions and the ways they affect us.

A great way to manage unhealthy emotions through self-awareness is the thought naming exercise, where we make a list of all the thoughts that are dominating our mind this very moment, the people or circumstances that we think may be causing them, and name the emotions in one or two words.

We can practice this as a daily self-help practice, and make a chart like the one shown below:

Useful Therapy Modalities

Which therapy modalities are particularly useful for emotion regulation?

1. Emotional Regulation Therapy (ERT)

Emotion Regulation Therapy is a person-centered approach to dealing with affective regulation. It uses parts of CBT, DBT, Mindfulness, and other humanistic approaches to achieve the following goals:

Helping individuals identify, acknowledge, and describe their emotions.

Allowing unconditional self-acceptance that ultimately results in emotional regulation.

Preventing them from avoiding feelings and choosing actions that impact on their wellbeing.

Helping them learn better decision-making, constructive critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

ERT interventions operate on a four-dimensional model, as shown below. Studies have proved that administering ERT strategies to patients increase their chances of recovery from disorders such as GAD, PTSD, and severe depression (Fresco, Mennin, Heimberg, & Ritter, 2013).

2. Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive Therapy interventions used in emotional regulation include:

Cognitive Distraction - which is an antecedent-focused strategy involving a careful shift of attention from the negative emotion to something pleasant (Gross, 1998). It is a practical approach where clients get positive stimuli from therapists or coaches to focus on when they feel low. Slowly, the individuals get conditioned to shift their attention the moment they catch themselves indulging in toxic emotions (Nolen-Hoeksema, Wisco, & Lyubomirsky, 2008; Sheppes, Scheibe, Suri, & Gross, 2011).

Cognitive Reappraisal - As we discussed before, cognitive reappraisal is an intervention whose goal is to help us acknowledge the negative emotions at first, and then slowly replace it with other positive emotions that are less provoking.

Cognitive Labeling - Labeling is a neuro-linguistic process of identifying emotions as they arise. Studies have shown that when we can recognize and literally 'name' our feelings and have a complete awareness of the emotional boundaries, there is decreased activity in the amygdala, a part of the brain that regulates emotions (Hariri, Bookheimer, & Mazziotta, 2000; Lieberman et al., 2007).

3. MBCT (Group Therapy)

MBCT or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy reduces the chances of relapse in people with emotional regulation disorders. It has proven benefits in treating cardiovascular conditions, hormonal deficits, and hypertension that comes with emotional imbalance.

MBCT is usually conducted in group settings, which makes it a preferred option for many people. The process mainly entails in forming a positive relationship with our innermost feelings.

For example, when someone is at the verge of relapsing depression, MBCT teaches them how they can overcome the blues by not trying to change themselves. Through mindfulness and meditation, MBCT reforms the way we feel about ourselves.

Techniques for Working with Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental conditions that interfere with a person's social, emotional, and executive functioning.

As stated in DSM 5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Health Disorders), autism causes:

Impairment in communication and social interaction.

Repetitive behavioral patterns that may sometimes be aggressive or extreme.

Poor impulse control and judgment.

Muscular inflexibility, involuntary movements, and other sensory-motor disturbances.

The typical difficulty that most autistic individuals face is executive dysfunctioning, including impulse control problems, emotional management, self-expression, and anger management.

Psychological regulation strategies specifically created for helping people with ASD primarily focus on separating emotions from the self. It helps autistic individuals understand that they need not act on their feelings; they learn that simply acknowledging emotions can also be a way of responding, without hurting themselves or others.

Another significant aspect that ER strategies deal with is the social and communication deficits autistic people face. There is a 5-point scale that many mental health practitioners and special educators use for helping ASD clients. The scale is created visually to facilitate easy comprehension. The test is systematic and follows a step-by-step approach.

The test starts with the identification of the problem areas, for example, daily routine, self-care, communication, etc.

After identification, caregivers of the client rate each problem based on how much it affects them on a 5-point scale where 5 indicates the most severe issue, and 1 indicates the least severe problem.

After listing down and rating the troubles, parents or caregivers come up with a list of the environmental and social factors that they think might be causing the problems.

Finally, the therapist makes small cards with visual illustrations of each situation that parents earlier labeled as a potential stressor. The cards are presented to the autistic person one by one, and the therapist asks them to express in their way how they feel about it.

Other ER based strategies for helping ASD includes visual expression, media awareness, creative painting and crafts, and group activities.

3 Worksheets to Implement the Theory

There are three worksheets especially applicable to emotion regulation.

1. The Radical Acceptance Worksheet

Marsha Linehan, a famous American psychologist and the creator of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, adopted the concept of radical acceptance from Buddhist teachings and incorporated it in her works later.

The Radical Acceptance Worksheet is often used in DBT interventions as it helps in enhancing self-awareness and understanding the underlying causes of our emotional struggles. The worksheet consists of seven subjective questions, the answers to which suggest the level of emotional control and indicate possible thinking errors.

The sheet is illustrated below. Each question comes with clear, guided instructions, and there are no right or wrong answers here.

The Radical Acceptance Worksheet

Question 1 - Describe a stressful situation you encountered. How did the situation occur? How did it affect you?

Question 2 - Did you or your behavior lead to the situation stated above? If yes, how?

Question 3 - How did others around you contribute to the situation?

Question 4 - What control did you have on yourself during that situation?

Question 5 - What was your reaction to the situation? Do you think your behavior impacted your emotions?

Question 6 - Did your reaction affect others around you? If yes, how?

Question 7 - How would you react to similar stressful circumstances in the future?

2. Emotion Regulation Worksheet

The Emotion Regulation Worksheet is a step-by-step approach to identifying our emotions in a clear and unbiased manner. Adapted from Linehan's manual for treating Borderline Personality Disorder, this worksheet helps in delving deep into the causes and consequences of an intense affective response.

With simple questions that indicate functionality of the emotion, this self-help manual lets us gauge how powerful our emotions can be. The worksheet is shown below.

Find more information on the emotion regulation questionnaire here.

Think of a situation in the past that evoked strong emotions in you and answer the following questions:

What led to the situation?

How did you interpret the situation?

How intense were your emotions (say on a scale of 0-100)?

Did your emotion influence others' actions? If yes, how?

Did the emotion influence your actions? If yes, how?

Did your emotion influence your judgment? If yes, how?

3. The PLEASE Worksheet

The Please Worksheet is standard in DBT interventions for emotional management and self-expression.

PLEASE is an anagram using five key concepts:

Physical health and illness

Mood changing substances

Eating habits

Sleep

Exercise and Fitness

Through managing these aspects of life, the PLEASE Worksheet fosters emotional management and promotes healthy living. The exercise has questions dedicated to each of the five components, and results reflect how the areas affect our emotions and actions. The worksheet is briefly illustrated below.

Since it is usually a counterpart of therapy, the PLEASE Worksheet should ideally be used under professional supervision.

Examples of Emotional Self-Regulation
When was the last time you managed to express your vulnerabilities without hurting yourself or others?
Emotional regulation is not a skill that some of us have, and some of us don't. It is a capacity that is inbuilt in us. We all manage to regulate our emotions in some circumstances and fail to manage them in others. There is no all or none principle that works with emotional regulation in human life.

For example, imagine your boss yelling at you for some mistake. How would you react? Would you yell at them back and resign from the job, or perhaps deal with it calmly and let go? Now, if the same situation happened at home, where you do something wrong, and your partner shouts at you, how would you answer back? Would you hold back your anger and be rational like you were at work, or would you get into a fight with your spouse?

In the above example, the same person (you) could regulate and redirect your emotions at work but fail to do the same at home. You could keep your nerves under control in one situation but lose your judgment in another. This is how emotional regulation can fluctuate in us. Our goal, at all times, should be to maintain a balance in our emotional reactions irrespective of the situation.

There are numerous examples of emotional self-regulation that we can find around us. For example, a person who is on a strict diet and attends a social gathering with all delicious delicacies around has the power to tame their urges and regulate the hunger emotions so they wouldn't cheat their diet.

Leaders who manage large teams and have to make crucial decisions for their organization to maintain a sturdy mental balance that would help them maintain their leadership and success.

Self-regulation in adults or children come from rigorous self-observation, environmental learning, and focused self-awareness. To effectively manage our emotional reactions at work or home, here are some steps that we can all take.

Daily breathing and relaxation.

Healthy eating, sound sleep, and regular exercise.

Quality me-time and a stable self-care regime.

Frequent day-outs or trips with family and friends.

Effective communication with self and others, especially when the conversations are difficult or awkward.

Maintaining a sound work-life balance (Connelly et al., 2012).

Games for Group Therapy Settings

Emotional Regulation group activities often use fun games to make the sessions more exciting and motivating for clients. Group ER activities also work exceptionally well for differently abled people and young children. Some simple ER games used in group therapy settings are discussed below.

1. Traffic Light Game

This is mostly used for children where one participant plays the role of traffic police, and the others play car drivers who wait for the signal. When the traffic police hold the green card, the other kids move forward, and when they lifts the red card, they stop and remain where they are.

After the role play is over, the facilitator uses the metaphor to teach the kids that red cards are bad feelings that they should not chase. When they see those red cards, they should stop until the green (happy) cards come in.

2. Jenga

Jenga is an everyday group activity used for adults and children to foster decision-making and rational planning of actions. The way participants stack the blocks and displace them one by one without breaking the whole stack creates mindful movement strategies that further help in emotional management and decision-making.

3. Follow the Leader Exercise

The purpose of this group activity is to teach that when we are not in charge of our decisions, the best idea is to stay silent and let the time pass. The game is played in a role-play format where each participant takes turns to act as the leader, and others act as their subordinates.

The leader, who is in charge of all decisions, gives orders and their employees have to follow them whether or not they want to. The activity trains them on how to follow the rules and stay calm when something does not go according to the way we want.

Best Books on Emotional Regulation

1. Handbook of Emotion Regulation - James J. Gross

The Handbook of Emotional Regulation is a comprehensive compilation of some of the most useful and scientifically-backed strategies for modulating emotions.

The detailed chapters of the book provide a vivid roadmap of how we can start identifying negative emotions and effectively overcome them in the long-run.

The concepts mentioned by author James Gross are futuristic, research-oriented, and has substantial implications for neuroscience, psychology, and overall health.

Find the book on Amazon.

2. Self-Regulation Interventions and Strategies: Keeping the Body, Mind, and Emotions on Task in Children with Autism, ADHD or Sensory Disorders - Teresa Garland

Author Teresa Garland has put in her years of research on emotional regulation in children in the book Self-regulation Intervention Strategies.

With over a thousand activities and fun exercises that can be blended in academic and other child-care settings, this book is the ultimate guide for parents and teachers who aim to raise emotionally balanced kids.

Find the book on Amazon.

3. Emotion Regulation in Children and Adolescents: A Practitioner's Guide - Michael A. Southam-Gerow

Emotion Regulation in Children and Adolescents is a practical manual or self-help guide for adolescents, young adults, and children, for promoting positive affective self-regulation.

With worksheets, activities, and objective assessments, this piece provides valuable knowledge on how we can confront and manage difficult emotions ourselves.

Find the book on Amazon.

4. DBT Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance - MCKAY M

As the name suggests, this book is dedicated to understanding and learning DBT skills that help in emotional management.

The book follows a holistic perspective and focuses on all areas of emotional balance, including tolerance, mindfulness, coping, and attention.

Find the book on Amazon.

A Take-Home Message

The way we interpret our emotions determine the way we react to it. Emotional regulation does not mean being happy all the time; neither does it guarantee to shield us from pain. With emotional management, we gain the ability to accept our feelings and overpower them.

Emotional regulation is all about moving on and not letting temporary setbacks stop us from reaching our goals. It is tied in with values, expressions, self-compassion, gratitude, and rational thinking, which accounts for the inner peace that emotion regulation brings with it. And as the saying goes, "Feelings are visitors, we should let them come and go."

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don't forget to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free.

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Emotional Regulation: 6 Key Skills to Regulate Emotions

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Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress

Positive thinking helps with stress management and can even improve your health. Practice overcoming negative self-talk with examples provided.
By Mayo Clinic Staff
Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you're optimistic or pessimistic - and it may even affect your health.

Indeed, some studies show that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being. The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management. And effective stress management is associated with many health benefits. If you tend to be pessimistic, don't despair - you can learn positive thinking skills.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk

Positive thinking doesn't mean that you ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information or expectations due to preconceived ideas of what may happen.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you're likely an optimist - someone who practices positive thinking.

The health benefits of positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

Increased life span

Lower rates of depression

Lower levels of distress and pain

Greater resistance to illnesses

Better psychological and physical well-being

Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease and stroke

Reduced risk of death from cancer

Reduced risk of death from respiratory conditions

Reduced risk of death from infections

Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It's unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.

It's also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles - they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don't smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

Identifying negative thinking

Not sure if your self-talk is positive or negative? Some common forms of negative self-talk include:

Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all the positive ones. For example, you had a great day at work. You completed your tasks ahead of time and were complimented for doing a speedy and thorough job. That evening, you focus only on your plan to do even more tasks and forget about the compliments you received.

Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. For example, you hear that an evening out with friends is canceled, and you assume that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.

Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst without facts that the worse will happen. The drive-through coffee shop gets your order wrong, and then you think that the rest of your day will be a disaster.

Blaming. You try to say someone else is responsible for what happened to you instead of yourself. You avoid being responsible for your thoughts and feelings.

Saying you "should" do something. You think of all the things you think you should do and blame yourself for not doing them.

Magnifying. You make a big deal out of minor problems.

Perfectionism. Keeping impossible standards and trying to be more perfect sets yourself up for failure.

Polarizing. You see things only as either good or bad. There is no middle ground.

Focusing on positive thinking

You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it does take time and practice - you're creating a new habit, after all. Following are some ways to think and behave in a more positive and optimistic way:

Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it's work, your daily commute, life changes or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way. Think of a positive thought to manage your stress instead of a negative one.

Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.

Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.

Follow a healthy lifestyle. Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. You can also break it up into 5- or 10-minute chunks of time during the day. Exercise can positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. Get enough sleep. And learn techniques to manage stress.

Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.

Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you're thankful for in your life.

Here are some examples of negative self-talk and how you can apply a positive thinking twist to them:

Negative self-talk

Positive thinking

I've never done it before.

It's an opportunity to learn something new.

It's too complicated.

I'll tackle it from a different angle.

I don't have the resources.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

I'm too lazy to get this done.

I couldn't fit it into my schedule, but I can re-examine some priorities.

There's no way it will work.

I can try to make it work.

It's too radical a change.

Let's take a chance.

No one bothers to communicate with me.

I'll see if I can open the channels of communication.

I'm not going to get any better at this.

I'll give it another try.

Practicing positive thinking every day

If you tend to have a negative outlook, don't expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you.

When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you're better able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely observed health benefits of positive thinking.

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Positive thinking - Harness the power of optimism to help with stress management.