March 12, 2011

You Can Heal - Part 2

Yesterday Stephanie posed this question, What on earth do we do about automatic negative thoughts? Are you struggling with letting them go? She offers wonderful words of wisdom here!...

Well, the ineffective untrue negative thoughts need to go. (No matter how attached you are.)

It starts with being aware of your negative thoughts when something happens. You may begin to notice a pattern; a filter that exists in your brain you use to sift experiences. Next, once the negative thought is identified you can create an adaptive response. For example, a negative thought may be “I feel like I can’t do this.” The adaptive response would be, “The Bible says ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.’ It may be difficult, but it’s probably not true that I can’t do it at all. What is the worst that could happen? I will go ahead and try.”

Sounds simple right? Yea. The hard part comes when you actually have to use these adaptive responses in negative thought patterns to change behavior. The hard part is to ACT on your adaptive response even though you may not FEEL like it. Remember, our feelings are not necessarily what we need to follow; after all, the heart is deceitful above all else.

What we CAN always trust as truth is God’s Word. If He says something about us, even though we don’t FEEL it, we can CHOOSE to believe it. It becomes necessary to cry out “help me overcome” and to attack the negative thoughts and beliefs - constantly. Every time the negative thought pops up, you must CHOOSE to create an adaptive response, and act differently despite feelings.

Over time, negative thought patterns can be phased out, and replaced with the TRUTH of God’s Word. CBT is an awesome therapy - and when paired with the truths of scripture - it becomes one of the most powerful tools in finding freedom from negative thought trains.

I cannot tell you how much CBT counseling from a Christian counselor helped me. Strongholds that existed in my brain for years were demolished. Freedom from my past was found. I overcame depression and rediscovered who I was. Walls had to be torn down in the process, which was difficult, no doubt. But the rewards were huge.

If you are struggling on the negative thought train, the good news is you can jump off. You don’t have to stay on any longer (any automatic negative thoughts popping up right now?). Christ longs to give you freedom from what holds you captive. Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Do not let yourself be burdened by negative thoughts. Seek Christian counseling if that is where you feel God guiding you. Sometimes it takes someone walking beside you to notice the negative thoughts, and let you know they aren’t true.

Christ designed you to live in freedom. Don’t sell yourself short or settle for anything less!

Thank you so much Stephanie!!

This post is part of our Jumping off the Train {of Negative Thought} series. Join us for the rest here!

15 comments:

pinkdaisyjane said...

My healing came in large part from what we called "Romans 12:2" therapy. I had to learn to replace each lie with a truth.

My big ones were Romans 8:1, Isaiah 43:18-19, and Phil. 4:4-9

I have also been known, even now- 12.5 years later- to say, out loud, "That is not from You; Your word says..." and fill in the blank.

I'm sure people who see me driving think I'm nuts, {GRIN.} but it's better to be thought nuts than to be living in the pit of fear and depression!

LeeBird3 said...

Thanks Sam and Stephanie! So much.

It helps me to know I'm not the only one out here struggling with believing lies.

The tearing down of walls is where I am now, and it is excrutiating! I've prayed to die a lot lately. I'm glad God doesn't answer ALL our prayers with a YES.

But I'm not going to give up. Keep posting truth sisters. Love LeeBird

P.S. My word verification for this comment is "valls." Ha! Let ze valls come down!

stephanie said...

Heatherly, I do that too, the outloud in the car thing, LOL!

Leebird, I am sooooo glad He doesn't answer all of your prayers with a YES as well! Hang in there sister. Satan longs to make us think it's just too hard, He wants us to give up before we get to the other side, the freedom side. Let those "valls" fall down :)

Eileen said...

Choosing to jump off is one of the bravest and faith building things we will ever do! The freedom found makes it worth it.

Thank you for sharing these truths with us!

Debi said...

its great to see now that I want to start healing from my abusive childhood that I am not alone.

Fields of gold said...

Heatherly, what lovely, life-giving scriptures! Thank you for sharing your healing verses with us.

I talk outloud to myself too! Even if others think I'm nuts, at lease I know it keeps me sane! :)

Fields of gold said...

Leebird, love you girl! And {{extrememly}} grateful Jesus doesn't say yes to every desire of our heart.

Lee, you are able, through Him, to conquer. His strength is greater in your weakness. Rest and rely on Him. And please remember how loved you are!! There is so much goodness surrounding you in your life.

BIG HUGS!!

Fields of gold said...

Eileen, I just love your comments! Also encouraging and truth bearing. Stellar!

Fields of gold said...

Hi Debi,

You're definitely not alone! I'm so sorry for the trauma you've endured. May you find refreshment for your soul friend.

Hope you'll stick with us as we continue to leave the past behind and grip the hand of God as He leads us forward in truth and healing.

Debi said...

Thank you fields of Gold for your reply, as I've sdsaid I love coming here and sharing my morning coffee with you, may I ask a silly question? I've seen CBT a few times and was wondering what is stands for? My mind thought of Christ Based therapy

stephanie said...

Hi Debi! CBT stand for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Although I do like the name you gave it much better! If you ever decide to do counseling, I would encourage you to look for a Christ based Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, CBCBT! HA! You may have just coined a new term!

CBT combined with an anti-depressant is research shown to be the most effective treatment for depression, and even CBT without an anti-depressant is shown to be the most effective talk therapy.

Also, I wanted to encourage you. I think that you will find that as you begin to journey to healing from the pain of your childhood, you will find that you are much less alone than you ever thought. I know that as I began to share my story and heal, friends and family came out of the woodwork in support and also sharing their stories.

You are so strong. A survivor. Now, don't get me wrong, Satan will attack, because He wants to keep you bound up in shame, and to keep all that junk in the dark. But, you rebuke him in Jesus name girl! You have already taken a huge step just talking about it here! Keep on keeping on girl! Praying for you as you begin your journey of FREEDOM!!!

Connecting to the soul said...

Thanks Stephanie for the clarification on CBT. And your support. I have started my own blog thanks to this one where I will posting my journey I hope you and others will pop over and read and tell me what you think. I look forward to an interesting journey.

Debi

Fields of gold said...

Steph, Thank YOU so much for clarifying!! That helps me understand even more. I can tell you've got the gift of grace and compassion... thank you for sharing your gifts with us. I know I've grown from your words of advice and knowledge! Thank you thank you thank you!!

Fields of gold said...

Debi, yay!!! I'm so excited about your blog!! Looking forward to reading your thoughts!

Connecting to the soul said...

After Re-writing the first few pages ( with added scripture) my first step was learning I was not alone. That God was with me every step of the way.