“How do I change my automatic negative thoughts?”

Positive self-talk can help. Practice challenging your negative thoughts with positive ones. Changing your perspective can be illuminating. Try journaling also. If you can map out your thoughts then reflect on them, you may be able to see a pattern to identify the source and a solution for the habit.

Concern yourself with positivity. Your thoughts should automatically change.

Go to therapy and learn positive self-talk! Positive psychology is great!

Hello, Psychotherapy can treat you strategies for this issue. I would recommend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy methods. Feel free to conduct research on the method and seek guidance from a licensed therapist.

Hi,

Thank you for your question. To change automatic negative thoughts, it is important to identify, evaluate, challenge, and reframe them. One of the best therapeutic methods to do this is through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a short-term and highly effective treatment for many common issues, including depression and anxiety. CBT explores and helps to resolve
negative automatic thoughts and underlying core beliefs about the self, other people, and the world using structured activities and specific interventions. CBT also involves behavioral activation and development of new coping skills. You can even teach yourself CBT! Here are some of my favorite book recommendations:

The CBT Toolbox: A Workbook for Clients and Clinicians. Premier Publishing & Media. – Riggenbach, J. (2012).

<https://www.amazon.com/CBT-Toolbox-Workbook-Clients-Clinicians/dp/1936128306>
Doing CBT: A Comprehensive Guide to Working with Behaviors, Thoughts, and
Emotions. The Guilford Press: New York. – Tolin, D.F. (2016).

<https://www.amazon.com/Doing-CBT-Comprehensive-Behaviors-Thoughts/dp/1462527078>
The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Anxiety, Second Edition: A
Step-By-Step Program. New Harbinger Publications: Oakland, California. –
Knaus, W.J. (2014).The Anxiety and Worry Workbook: The Cognitive Behavioral
Solution. The Guilford Press: New York. – Clark, D.A., Beck, A.T. (2011).

<https://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Worry-Workbook-Cognitive-Behavioral/dp/160623918X>
Retrain Your Brain: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 7 Weeks: A Workbook for
Managing Depression and Anxiety. Althea Press: Dunedin, New Zealand. –
Gillihan, S.J. (2016).

<https://www.amazon.com/Retrain-Your-Brain-Behavioral-Depression-ebook/dp/B01M0ILKMQ>
Change Your Thinking: Overcome Stress, Anxiety, and Depression, and Improve
Your Life with CBT. Da Capo Press: Boston, Massachusetts. – Edelman, S.
(2007)

I hope this has been helpful!
Best,

Jenna Torres, PsyD

Hello,

Thank you so much for reaching out. The best thing for changing negative thinking is cognitive behavioral therapy. Either learning some techniques individually or going to a therapist is helpful.

Sara Cole, MS, LPC, CAC III

First, get a check-up with your doctor to rule out any physical issues. Speak with them and get a referral to do talk therapy online. The goal is not to project it onto others, but to cleanse your energy and thought patters by finding where it is coming from, then reprogramming with positive psychology and spiritual healing. Find the tools that work best for you. You know YOU. When a negative thought comes to mind, stop and write it down and see what the trigger was. Then substitute it with a positive thought and repeat it like a mantra.

You are ahead of the game by the fact that you recognize that your thoughts are in fact automatic! We call them automatic because we don’t control thoughts that pop into our head, right? We just find the thoughts there. If that’s the case then, what are OUR thoughts? That’s where your question comes into play. It’s what we DO with the thoughts we find in our head. We get to decide whether it is a helpful thought, a productive thought, one that’s going to serve us well. If so, great, keep it! If not, you can do several things with the thought. You can completely dismiss it (that’s pretty extreme) you can reframe it, you can put a positive spin on it... In essence what you’re doing here is called meta cognition which is “thinking about the thinking”. It’s basically a higher level of thinking rather than just doing simple surface level thinking which would have been accepting a thought just because you found it in your head and erroneously believed it was yours.

Thoughts can often develop into beliefs the more we may engage in them, becoming false beliefs. In turn, such thinking becomes ingrained, developing into an automatic negative response. We have to be conscious of our thinking, and being able to reflect on whether the negative thought is true and valid? Thoughts are often interonnected with our feelings and behaviors. Meaning how we may think, can influence a positive or negative feeling, as well as behavioral response. For example, if I were to say to myself: "Today was the absolute worst day ever.", the negative feeling of sadness, anxiety or anger may emerge, then the behavioral response of unmotivation or physical symptoms of the feelings mentioned. However, if I were to change the thinking more positively to: "Today was not the worst day ever" or "Today was a good day", positive feelings of hope, happiness, confidence, optimism may emerge, and in turn the behavioral responses of motivation. Finding something good in every day helps!

Take a peek at this link for some insight into your question:
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/stop-automatic-negative-thoughts