April, 10 2023 - Written by Maggie Osinski, LCSW
“You may have delayed it from happening, but you haven’t denied it from happening!”
Watch Out for Cognitive Distortions
Recovery road is long and windy. Along the way, we can become bogged down by unhelpful thoughts, such as: “I slipped up again, so I'll never recover.”
Thoughts like these are actually cognitive distortions trying to get in your way!
It is important to use skills to call out unhelpful, and inaccurate, cognitive distortions, so we can keep it moving toward our goals.
How to 'Keep It Moving'
The goal is to use the information learned during the "slip up" to integrate therapeutic skills more effectively.
Here are some brief examples of useful skills:
Observe, Describe, Participate (ODP)
These Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills are designed to help you practice mindfulness around what is happening in the moment.
Use Observation to build awareness of what and how you are experiencing things in the moment.
Describe your full experience as it is happening. Notice thoughts, feelings, urges, and behaviors.
Participate fully in the moment in order to learn something from it!
Next, you'll want to apply additional DBT and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) skills. Some include:
Challenge, Fact Check, Reality Test, and Reframe
When unhelpful thoughts arise, it is an important practice to Reframe, Challenge, Fact Check, and Reality Test the thoughts!
Not Sure How to Apply CBT and DBT Skills to your Recovery?
My advice is to grab yourself a therapist and get to chatting! It can take some time to learn and integrate new skills into your daily life.
A therapist can support you in learning about how your thoughts are contributing to your feelings and behaviors using a CBT and CBT framework. 💡