Let STRESS help you feel more calm.  See below:                                                                                         

STRESS

Self-care- eating well balanced and nutritious food; getting enough sleep; no alcohol or drugs

Talking it out – talk about your fears, worries, and stresses with a trusted friend, family member, therapist, or spiritual leader

Relaxation – meditation, journaling, soothing music, candles, bath, massage

Exercise – walking, biking, hiking, dancing, cleaning

Self-awareness – helps gain perspective on the situation and view it in a larger context.  Helps bring you back to the present

Socratic method – 6 questions to help challenge your negative thought patterns

The Socratic Method

Socratic:   Of Socrates or his method of trying to arrive at the truth by asking questions. (The American Heritage Dictionary, 3^rd edition)

In CBT the Socratic Method is used to help devise coping skills by asking questions that expand one’s constricted thinking.  It helps to enhance one’s observing self.  The questions are as follows:

·      What is the evidence that my thought is true?

·      What is the evidence that my thought is not true?

·      What’s alternative explanation or viewpoint?

·      What’s the worst that can happen?  And how could I cope with that?

·      What’s the best that could happen?

·      What’s the most likely outcome?