Mental Health & MH First Aid - Cognitive Therapy Unwarping Module

The Unwarping Module

Changing Warped Thoughts

Changing Warped Thoughts by Other Methods, Learning to Identify Personal Vulnerabilities, More Help with Self-Esteem Including Getting Out.

What you think is what you feel

Remember WUTIWUF – What you think is what you feel?

Events lead to >>> Thoughts which lead to >>> Feelings which lead to >>> Behaviours.

When events happen in life, we develop thoughts and feelings about those events, which affect our behaviour.

Remember the 10 types of warped thinking – for example, all or none thinking, magnification?

Contesting Warped Thinking

Remember the set of questions used to contest each of these types of warped thinking?

Remember the seven areas of personal vulnerability? Check your workbook to see whether your vulnerabilities were any of the following

The need for approval (you are very sensitive to criticism and the good opinions of others, you feel the need to keep others happy).
The need to be loved (you feel happiest when others approve and love you, without it you feel worthless and rejected, if someone you like doesn’t like you, you feel unlovable).
The need to succeed (you feel you must be outstanding in one area at least, you feel inferior and a failure if you do not succeed).
The need to be perfect (if it can’t be done excellently, then there is no point in doing it at all, falling short of perfection is pathetic and B (even C) grade, making a mistake is devastating.
The sense of feeling deserving (if you can’t get what you are entitled to, then it’s not fair, it’s unjust, unreasonable and frustrating; if you are kind and thoughtful then others should be kind back).
The sense of being able to influence all things (if something happens, somebody gets upset then it is your fault and you are responsible).
The sense that happiness is contingent upon external things (you feel you have no control over your emotions, your feelings, that happiness is dependent on external factors).

Be Nice to Yourself

Remember the start to self-esteem improvement, by being nice to yourself and being your own best friend.

The first exercise to improve self-esteem involves trying to treat yourself the way that you would a friend.

Every day in the next week spend 10 minutes doing something that you like to do. This means indulging yourself, spending time alone, if you like doing that, with music, etc.
Spend 5 minutes everyday being as nice to yourself as you would to a friend who has problems with their self-esteem.
For example, if you react badly to a situation, don’t say to yourself “you worthless worm”, say “it’s pretty normal to react that way, you are being hard on yourself. I think you handled the situation as best you could”, etc.

Keep a diary of these interactions – so that you know that you did the exercise, and you develop ideas about how this exercise is working for you.