The emotion shame, humiliation for self-protection and social control, is an important innate emotion. There are different types of shame which correspond to activating different levels of helpful/not helpful behaviors which in turn impact our wellbeing: 1 Shame as in the primary emotion that is sound in the sense that it is adaptable making us…
This post continues on the theme of self-efficacy, our beliefs about our capability to perform specific tasks or actions, which can be influenced directly and also has an important impact on our psychological wellbeing. As noted in earlier posts, much research has been conducted on the 4 major psychological processes through which self-efficacy affects human…
What are the learnings according to research that actually makes anxiety decrease for what is feared? It is thought that during exposure people learn new associations with regard to what they fear. This new learning can overrule old learning such as a spontaneous fearful reactions. Hence, it is important to maximise the ways that new…
Here comes the last of five parts of the breathing anchor, a seated exercise using the breath as an anchoring point of in total 5-10 minutes depending on pauses/pacing: …Notice when your mind has wandered. Observing the types of thoughts that distract you is an important part of the learning. Try to notice the content…
If stress is not dealt with, one can end up with more severe stress damages, even repairable brain damages, that can eventually lead to exhaustion disorder, or more popularly called burnout, which is a a prolonged response to chronic stressors often related to work. There is so far no agreed international diagnosis among other thing…
Last week we started to look at the SMART model, an acronym for the 5 important characteristics of effective goalsetting. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Limited. The SMART-model is a tool to help you set and achieve motivating goals to kick-start you towards your desired direction: ACHIEVABLE: The goal should be…
This post continues on the last 5 happiness sources of 10 from happiness research according to wikiversity.org: 6. Too much TV can make you unhappy. Research has shown that for every hour of television the general quality of life can be lowered by 5%. According to David Niven, TV orients us towards superficial things and…
Today’s post is about important reflections to be made before and after an exposure. Important strategies to handle possible strong reactions during exposure are: – Regulate stress-level through mindful breathing and relaxation techniques, see earlier posts under stress on www.jennyrapp.com – Feel the feelings: which feelings, how strong, where do you feel the feeling in…
This post continues on the theme of self-efficacy, our beliefs about our capability to perform specific tasks or actions, which also has an important impact on our psychological wellbeing. As noted last week, much research has been conducted on the 4 major psychological processes through which self-efficacy affects human functioning and hence can be increased….
Exposure therapy has for many decades been one of CBT’s most powerful and effective methods to help clients, who limits their life by avoiding objects, activities and situations they fear, to confront their fears. The foundational reasoning is that the normal human tendency/learning strategy of avoiding what is feared can reduce fear in the short…