When there is a voice in your head that tells you how bad you are- that you are a disappointment, or a failure, or that you deserve bad treatment, think of them as sitting at the head of the table of your "board of directors" and then think about who else can occupy that chair and tell you positive and loving things about yourself.
A Creative Technique to Help Clients Face Fear
If there is a fear, or other strong emotion that is strong enough that you miss out on things that are important to you because you are avoiding the fear or emotion, you can give that feeling a name (and an appearance if you want) and talk to it. Tell it that you are in charge. You can invite it to come along or to participate but that it will be on your terms.
How to Deal With Intrusive Thoughts
The idea here is that your brain gives you more of things that bring you a sense of joy or accomplishment, so if you respond to intrusive thoughts by focusing on them to resolve them.
A few tools from Peter Levine
Place your right hand under your left arm, in the armpit along the side of the heart, and place your left hand on your right shoulder. This can help us feel that our strong, triggered feelings are safely contained, which can make them feel less overwhelming. Another tool to try is to place one hand on the forehead, and the other on the chest. Try to feel what is going on in the body between the hands, what sensations can you feel? Once you feel some sort of change or shift, take the hand from the forehead and place it on the belly. Again, feel inside between the hands and feel for sort of shift. This can help a person fall asleep more easily and have more productive dreams. Another idea is tapping or patting the skin all over to feel where your boundary is.
Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) Improves Multiple Physiological Markers of Health
This study found that EFT (what many people know as "tapping") led to significant improvement in a number of mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The researchers noted that "gains were maintained on follow-up, indicating EFT results in positive health effects as well as increased mental well-being."
