I also would highly recommend Cognitive Therapy. I have only had four visits with my therapist, and already I am learning how to take control of my thoughts. I am starting to recognize the negative thoughts right when my mind thinks them up, and instead of letting them trigger negative feelings, I am dealing with them in a constructive way.
There are simple tools you can learn to use, like keeping a thought journal to recognize the thought, and how it makes you feel, and then to examine the thought, which really diffuses the impact the thought might have at that moment, and in the future when similar thoughts make an appearance again.
My Therapist gave me a list of the 10 most common "Cognitive Distortions" and I think I have been guilty of at least 8 of them. For instance: Over Generalizations - where you view a negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat. Or there's All-Or-Nothing thinking - where you look at things in absolute black and white categories. Or how about Magnification or Minimization - where you blow things way out of proportion or you shrink their importance.
We can all struggle with these things, but as we learn that we do not have to be victims of our thoughts and feelings, we can begin to live with more of a positive aura surrounding us, which can go a long way toward how others react to us too.
Smile, and remind yourself that life is going to be alright.
LG
Me 46 WAW 45 M 21 yrs
WAW: "I need to be alone" 12/06 W moves out 3/07 Mediation finalized 08/08
