Articles 20VN | How the Process of Thinking Towards Self ...

In my last article, I posited one can think their way to Anger Management and/or Self Improvement. I know this sounds a bit simplistic yet this process has been proven successful. In this article I would like to review how this process works. The goal is to offer a model that we can adopt when addressing our destructive anger patterns.

Lets us now review this model. We all exist in a world that is constantly feeding us a variety of stimuli. Every time we encounter a person or an experience we have an ingestion of stimuli. We receive it through one or a combination of our five senses. As you know our five basic senses include; sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell. These senses provide conduits for us to build a more complex set of cognitions. Once the stimuli are received we begin to process it. This happens in our brains.

Depending on the nature of the data it is immediately processed by different structures. If the data is exigent or threatening it will be processed by the amygdala where it prepares the body for an emergency response. If it is emotional, it is processed in the hippocampus where the brain processes our emotions. Eventually, all of the data reaches the neocortex which is where we store memories and process "executive" or higher level decisions. The brain is able to do this within a few nana seconds. Our brains are the central processing unit for the body.

Once it reaches the neocortex these stimuli become categorized according to two distinct entities. One is our core cognitions and the other is our automatic thoughts (may be dysfunctional thoughts). Let's talk about these.

The first is the Core Cognitions. These are our basic paradigms of life. For example; life should be fair. This would be a basic or core cognition that determines how we approach every experience we encounter. Other core cognitions may include; I am worthy of respect, I am worthy to be treated properly; I have the right to defend myself when I am not treated as I should be. These are all personal beliefs that form according to our environments, socialization, or our learning experiences. The basic quality of our core cognitions are they are often absolute, they are dogmatic, and they legislate how we interact in our worlds. The one hopeful quality is core cognitions are modifiable.

The next is our automatic thoughts. Automatic thoughts are those that emerge when we immediately encounter an experience. They are spontaneous and reflexive. Hence the term automatic thoughts. Automatic thoughts may also be dysfunctional thoughts. Dr. Aaron Beck has identified ten of the most common dysfunctional thoughts. These are common thoughts that help to cause us discomfort or misconceptions of reality

The good thing about automatic thoughts is they too are modifiable.

The combination of cognitions and thoughts lead to our emotions and feelings. The feelings and emotions set the tone for our behavioral responses. The concept is as we begin to have more positive emotions or feelings we, in turn, can expect our behavior to be more positive.

This is the basic model of Cognitive Therapy. This model has been studied extensively and has proven to be effective with mood disorders. I propose it therefore has great promise in working with those with anger issues. Further, working in this model with a clinician trained in this model may be a most viable option.

What have we seen in this model? In review, behaviors are directly related to how we feel. How we feel is a result of how we think. What we do in Cognitive Therapy is to attempt to challenge thoughts or modify thoughts to more positive and beneficial thoughts. This is the key - how we think effects how we behave. Change our thoughts and we improve our behavior. Sounds simple. Let's get to work!

Source: http://www.20vn.com/mental-health/how-the-process-of-thinking-towards-self-improvement-and-or-anger-management-works-6e5.htm

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