Anchored Not Anxious
Welcome to Anchored Not Anxious, Anxiety and worry may manipulate your mind and emotions, but it is not your identity. My anxiety journey equips me to mentor women with anxiety and worry. Find wisdom and realistic encouragement while gaining an unshakeable trust in God. It's possible with practical, faith-rooted anchoring practices. You belong here.
Hosted by Terri Hutchinson, a compassionate nurse and mentor.
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Anchored Not Anxious
Parking Lot Panic to Mental Peace: My CBT Journey
Ever felt completely overwhelmed by your own thoughts and emotions? In this vulnerable and deeply personal episode, Terri describes a raw moment of crisis in a grocery store parking lot and how it became the catalyst for trying cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Intense emotions create a thoughts storm and at the same time emotions are spiking. Feeling out of control and unable to "fix it" Terri turned to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – and discovered it was exactly what she needed.
This episode briefly describes what CBT actually is (and what it's not) and how and why it might help with your own mental health struggles.
If you've been on the fence about counseling or wondering whether CBT could help, this honest journey from resistance to relief may help you decide.
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As I close my car door and cross the grocery store parking lot, my thoughts and emotions are in a battle. I am being pummeled from the inside. That choking feeling is rising in my throat. I'm feeling panicked on the verge of being out of control.
I can't even decide if I should turn back to the car or go into the store. How does this happen?
Well, I was thinking about family. A change of circumstances for a family member evoked intense emotions, anger, sadness, a sense of responsibility, guilt, frustration, it was like an imaginary pendulum swinging between the right and left side of my brain.
The pendulum swings with such force. That's why you feel out of control. Thoughts are raging. Emotions are spiking. I'm out of balance and I can't fix it. But I'm stubborn and self-reliant, and those are the two reasons why I resisted going to counseling and suffered longer than I had to.
I knew cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT could help me, but I wanted to avoid the licensed counselor route. Yeah, counseling helped me in the past. I just thought I could apply self-help. Turns out self-help wasn't helping.
I went to counseling and now whenever I think about that situation, 85% of the time, I can maintain a balanced view of that situation.
So if you're curious, here are some facts about what CBT is and is not.
- CBT helps you see the connection between thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Each one influences the other.
- CBT identifies unhelpful thinking patterns and out of balance emotions. This allows you to challenge distorted thoughts and create new and helpful ways of thinking and feeling.
- CBT is not a denial of negative experiences, thoughts and emotions.
- It's not “get happy” therapy. It's not distraction or unrealistic reassurance.
- And it's not a quick fix.
It takes time to pave new thought strategies. Those old thought paths are well worn so you need to carve in new paths.
So that's the facts on CBT. I hope that you will check out some of the CBT self-help books or or try it out with a professional counselor. I really believe you will notice a difference in how you think, feel, and respond to whatever life throws at you.
Thank you for listening. It means so much to me and I hope that you will check out my videos on YouTube.
Until next time.
