146. Stress Resets: How to Change Your Internal Dialogue to Communicate Better
Jun 11, 2024
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Psychologist Jenny Taitz discusses how self-talk affects communication. She suggests techniques to change negative thought patterns, using her 'resets' to improve self-talk and interacting with others. Taitz introduces the G.I.V.E. framework for positive conversations, focusing on being gentle, interested, validating, and easy-mannered. Learn to manage stress, improve internal dialogue, and enhance communication skills in this engaging podcast.
Manage stress by adjusting internal dialogue for better communication with others.
Enhance communication by embodying empathy through being gentle, interested, validating, and easy in manner.
Deep dives
The Stress Cycle: Escalation and Coping Strategies
Stress tends to escalate when faced with challenging situations, leading to negative thoughts and physical tension. This cycle often prompts emotional reactions or avoidance. Effective stress management involves recognizing these escalation points to make coping easier. Strategies like resetting your mind by changing thought patterns, relaxing facial expressions to promote acceptance, and practicing opposite action to counter stress-inducing behaviors can transform how stress is managed.
Turning Down Overthinking: Metacognition and Emotional Depth
Overthinking can be tackled by understanding beliefs about thinking patterns and distinguishing between constructive reflection and destructive rumination. Embracing deep emotional exploration instead of superficial thoughts can lead to better stress management. Techniques like time-limiting rumination and reframing thoughts from 'why' to 'how' can cultivate a proactive approach to stressful situations.
Empathy in Communication: The GIVE Approach
Effective communication relies on showing empathy through being gentle, interested, validating, and easy in manner. The acronym GIVE encapsulates these qualities, promoting smoother interactions and fostering connections with others. By embodying empathy in conversations, individuals can create meaningful exchanges and alleviate unnecessary stress in social interactions.
Stress can get in the way of our communication with others. To manage our stress, psychologist Jenny Taitz says, we first need to adjust the conversations that we have with ourselves.
Taitz is an assistant clinical professor in psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of several books, including Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Body and Mind in Minutes. According to her, much of the stress we experience is self-created through negative thought patterns and harsh self-criticism. “We're doing this to ourselves all the time,” she says. But as we become aware of these unhelpful mental loops, Taitz’ “resets” can help us disrupt them and reframe self-talk in more productive ways
In addition to changing our self-talk, Taitz offers tools for refreshing our communication with others. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, she and host Matt Abrahams explore her G.I.V.E. framework — how being gentle, interested, validating, and easy-mannered equips us for more positive conversations with ourselves and others