Negative Thoughts and Behaviours

Negative Thoughts and Behaviours Counselling in Clondalkin, Online and by Phone

It is my belief in Prevail that our thoughts are what control our emotions, behaviours and sensations in our body.
If our thoughts go astray, then our lives suffer.

There are degrees by which thoughts can become troublesome.
Prevail is happy to work with thought disorders such as mild psychosis, where the perception of reality is slightly blurred.
Paranoia, when the client has a false perception of other people and their behaviours toward them, is also within my remit.
Prevail will with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, where a client has an unreasonable drive to complete specific behaviours to create a sense of control over a chaotic situation.

With such issues, a client should also attend their GP. This is to assess the degree of medical intervention required.

The most common thought issue dealt with by me is negative self-thoughts. This does not usually require medical intervention unless there is a strong negative emotional reaction.

Grounding the person without aggressively challenging them is a key approach.
For long-term symptom reduction,
I help the client identify triggers to their behaviour and develop coping skills.

What Approaches are used in Negative Thoughts and Compulsive Behaviours Therapy?

The issues being dealt with are thoughts and behaviours.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy brings these together.
With Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, the truth of the thoughts is specified, challenged, and a change plan is put in place.
Learn more about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy HERE
Behavioural projects are also tried out to test how well alternative thoughts work in practice.

A client might present with an initial acute situation where they have become obsessed with a thought or process of thinking. This could result in repetitive negative behaviour. This behaviour may even be self-destructive, i.e. deliberate self-harm.
In such a situation, the client is suited to Solution-Focused Therapy.

This approach is for a brief intervention. The client identifies the goals they want to achieve to reduce their stress. Working with the therapist, the client puts together the strategies to achieve these goals and the blocks that work against this. These strategies are then reviewed by measuring how well the negative behaviours have been reduced.
To learn more about Solution-Focused Therapy, click HERE.

How can Counselling help Compulsive Negative Thoughts and Behaviours?

Therapy helps to provide calm and self-belief for people riddled with negative thoughts and behaviours.

Through therapy, a client can come to the core belief about themselves and how they react to the world around them. This self-understanding can unravel the negative thoughts and related behaviours that plague them.
The client becomes more self-assured through implementing strategies that change negative core beliefs.

That is how a client presenting with disturbed thoughts and behaviours attains improved self-belief and calmer behaviours.

Specific Aspects of Negative Thoughts and Behaviours Counselling

There are two levels of work in changing negative thoughts and behaviours.
The surface and what lies below the surface.

It is reasonable that a client would want to deal with the immediate source of their upset first. The thoughts and behaviours that are causing their life to be difficult are what they want resolved foremost.
However, to ensure freedom from these problems in the future, issues below the surface have to be dealt with.

Often, I reach a stage with clients where they feel better in life. I acknowledge with them that their presenting issues are resolved. Then I ask them whether they want to do further work to remove the root cause of their upset. This root cause will usually be known by this stage.
This is a slower process and requires a more introspective approach than mere thought and behaviour change.
Most clients say they do want to go deeper and ensure a more lasting change.

Related Blogs to Negative Thoughts and Behaviours

An overview of how I work with emotional pain. The relationship between thoughts, emotions, behaviours and sensations of the body is discussed in detail. The process of how alternative thoughts are practised and implemented is outlined.

Frequently Asked Questions about OCD and Negative Thoughts Counselling

Book with Prevail for Negative Thoughts and Behaviour Counselling

To book an OCD and negative thoughts counselling session with James, click here: