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A Fresh Approach to Handling Stress
Unraveling Stress: It's About How You Think, Not What You Think.
Understanding the Experience We Call "Stress": An MCT Perspective
Discover how Metacognitive Therapy helps you shift your relationship with your thoughts to ease the experience we label "stress" and cultivate well-being.
The feeling we often label as "stress" can significantly impact your well-being. At Lazy Therapy, I help you address this experience in a unique way – not by directly tackling external stressors or the content of your thoughts, but by changing how you relate to your thinking itself. From an MCT perspective, "stress" isn't a fixed entity or a sign of your mind being overwhelmed or in danger of "burning out." Instead, it's an experience that arises from how we engage with our thoughts about pressure and demands.
What Contributes to the Feeling of Stress?
The experience of stress often arises from specific ways we handle our thoughts. Common patterns that contribute include:
Believing in the Necessity of Worry: The idea that "I need to worry to stay on top of things" or "If I don't stress, I won't be prepared." Attempting to Control Thoughts: Trying to suppress or avoid thoughts perceived as stressful, which can paradoxically amplify them. Engaging in Rumination: Getting caught in repetitive cycles of negative thinking about events or potential outcomes. From an MCT viewpoint, these thinking patterns, driven by underlying beliefs about thinking, are key in creating and maintaining the feeling of stress. Crucially, MCT suggests that these thought processes, while uncomfortable, are not inherently dangerous or a sign of your mind reaching its limit.
How MCT Helps Ease the Experience of "Stress"
Metacognitive Therapy focuses on transforming your relationship with these thought processes, rather than the stressors themselves. Here's how:
Identifying Your Beliefs About Thinking: MCT helps you uncover the metacognitive beliefs that fuel your tendency to worry and ruminate in situations you label "stressful." Examining the Helpfulness of These Beliefs: Through guided questioning, you'll explore whether these beliefs are actually serving you or contributing to the feeling of being stressed. For instance, does worrying truly lead to better outcomes, or does it primarily increase your distress? Understanding the Nature of "Stressful" Thoughts: MCT helps you recognise that the thoughts you label as "stressful" are just mental events, not necessarily accurate reflections of danger or your inability to cope. Reducing Unhelpful Thinking Patterns: MCT provides tools to help you become aware of and disengage from the cycles of worry and rumination that contribute to feeling stressed. Developing Detached Mindfulness: You'll learn to observe your thoughts as mental events, without automatically reacting to them as threats or engaging with their content. Cultivating Flexible Attention: MCT techniques can help you intentionally shift your attention away from stressful thought processes and back to the present moment. Why MCT Offers a Different Path to Wellbeing:
MCT's focus on the underlying thinking processes offers a powerful way to ease the experience we call "stress":
Addresses the Root Processes: Instead of directly targeting external stressors (which may be difficult to change) or the content of thoughts, MCT focuses on the modifiable thinking patterns that lead to the feeling of stress. It also challenges the idea that "stress" is inherently damaging. Potential for Lasting Change: By shifting your fundamental relationship with your thoughts, MCT can lead to more sustainable well-being. Empowering Approach: MCT equips you with skills to understand and manage your own thinking, reducing the feeling of being overwhelmed by stress. You'll learn that your mind is resilient and capable, not fragile and prone to "burnout."