When we experince truss, we zoom in so narrowly on the emotional elements of the experience. But when we think about ourselves from that more objective standpoint, like we were thinking about someone else, we can often find solutions to our problems. That is what distancing helps people do. Another easy tool is something that goes by a few different names, mental time travel,. temporal distancing, or, in my mind, ethan's two a m chatter strategy.
It can speak to us in the middle of a work project, the middle of a date, or the middle of the night. The critical voice in our head telling us we're just not good enough and we're headed for failure. Listener Patricia Branigan wrote in to ask what we can do the quiet down this chatter.
To explain what damage negative self-talk does to us and explore some simple strategies to challenge our inner critic, Dr Laurie Santos is joined by "chatter" expert Ethan Kross (professor of psychology and management at the University of Michigan).
You can read more in Ethan's book 'Chatter: The Voice in our Head (And How to Harness it)'.
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