CBT techniques for a happier, healthier you.

Spring and summer are natural times for renewal. Blue skies, Green shoots and yellow blossoms replace the brown and dour landscape. Formerly gray and dismal, the outside world is suddenly bright and inviting. It has taken a long time to emerge this year in New England, but spring is finally fully upon us.

Now, in the midst of all the natural beauty and greenery, is a perfect time to embrace renewal in our own lives and allow for opportunities for our better selves to emerge. The milder weather and its promise of days spent enjoying the great outdoors is often the perfect catalyst to resurrecting those now long forgotten New Year’s Resolutions that promised a healthier lifestyle. Maybe you had intended to exercise more or change your diet, but something managed to get in the way of progress. As we now move forward and make strides to improve our habits, it is helpful to consider what caused us to slip the first time and leave behind those good intentions!

It is important for us to consider how our brains process the resolution statements that we create at the beginning of any endeavor for self-improvement. Our brains are organized in such a way that when we have an idea, the word that corresponds with that idea appears on the left side of our brain. At the same time, the right side of our brain registers an image that corresponds with the words in our idea. This would not be particularly notable, except for the fact that the one word for which our brains have no associated image is the word “not.” Therefore, if we were to create the resolution “I will not eat sweets,” our brain would fail to register the word “not,” changing the statement instead to “I will eat sweets.”  Without our realizing it, these “not” statements set us up for failure, and before we know it, a big bag of candy is open on our desks.

A better way to formulate a resolution is with an “action” statement. Instead of telling yourself “I will not eat sweets,” you can state “I will eat more fruits and vegetables,” or “I will improve my diet.” Your brain has images to correspond to these statements, such as leafy greens, carrots, and grapes. Dietary improvements will have a chance to take hold in your daily life as you resolve to take action and incorporate healthier elements. Instead of telling yourself that you will not spend so much time indoors or that you will not watch so much television, create a statement that actively gets you outside. “I will spend thirty minutes walking outside, three times a week.”

If you are having trouble meeting your goals and changing your behaviors, even after working to incorporate more action statements into your resolutions, it may be time to look for some outside assistance. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is designed to help people change their thoughts and their behaviors to help them succeed in improving their quality of life in an organized and goal-oriented way. A therapist trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can help you get started on the path to achieving your goals for better health.