Techniques to Stop Overthinking and Shift Focus

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OK, so how can we stop overthinking everything? 1. The very first skill to stop overthinking is noticing and naming. Rumination is a bad habit that we’re often not aware we’re doing. First, get really good at identifying overthinking, say it out loud “I’m overthinking.” Ask someone to point it out to you. Learn your triggers. What time of day are you most likely to ruminate? Where are you most likely to overthink? At work? When you’re alone? When you’re at the bar? What situations trigger it? Try to predict it. So if you’re most likely to overthink something right as you go to bed or right after a social situation, prepare yourself to notice it so that you shift your focus to something more helpful. If you’re struggling to catch yourself overthinking, you could set an alarm on your phone to go off once an hour and check how much you’ve been ruminating that hour. And just track it for a week. In general, people tend to ruminate the most when they have nothing to occupy their attention. Now that you’ve gotten good at noticing when you’re overthinking, we’re going to take 2 approaches to stop overthinking everything. 1- setting limits on overthinking and 2- learn a bunch of ways to redirect your thoughts to something more helpful.

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Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.

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