I'm about half-way through this online cognitive behaviour treatment that I've been doing the last few months, to treat the anxiety, related to my stuttering. I'm finding it pretty beneficial.
In a nutshell, the idea is that social anxieties are driven by causal thoughts (I will stutter badly in this situation, I can't talk to this particular person, people will think I'm stupid etc), which are then maintained by safety behaviours (keep answers short, point to things rather than talking, try to avoid difficult words, avoid eye contact etc).
They then set me behavioural experiments, where I go in to a situation on purpose, that I'd usually run a mile from. I make a bunch of predictions on the outcome beforehand, then go in, trying my best to discard all safety behaviours.
Afterwards, I evaluate how it went, and whether my predictions were correct. And they haven't been-- I had predicted very negative outcomes, which never eventuated.
So this is all coming as a bit of a revelation to me; that I'm wasting a lot of energy cowering from perceived dangers that aren't really dangerous. experiencing this first hand is very liberating.
Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)
Huldra Forsvant (Theodor Kittelsen)
4 comments:
Thanks so much for your honesty Ben. I've really appreciated reading your speech-related posts. I am a Speech Path, but I have never worked with adults. Your posts have given me a lot of insights.
Wow, Ben - this kind of exercise must take real courage. Thanks for sharing about your experiences and I'm glad it's proving a liberating experience.
Hey Ben,
This sounds similar to some very helpful things that I've discussed with a Christian psychologist we know. I pray that they're beneficial for you.
Julie- thanks, it's nice to get the encouragement, especially from someone who works in this area.
Joanna- Thanks Joanna, I appreciate that.
Kutz- Thanks mate. Yeah, really it's not far removed from Christian stuff I've read and thought about. I guess Christianity takes it that step further, so you are not just freed up from doing your head in over other peoples' assessment of you, thus liberating yourself, but your also freed up to love those people, regardless of how you perceive them treating you. And Christians have a much more sturdy thing to base it all one, because we are looking for our self worth in God alone.
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