"None but ourselves can free our minds.” - Bob Marley.

I would like you to sit and quietly imagine this:

You woke up on a quiet Sunday morning, laying warm underneath your sheets. You roll out of bed, whip open the curtains, and begin to feel the warmth as the sun hits your skin. You head to the kitchen and make a hot cup of coffee with the perfect amount of sugar and cream. You love your Sundays! But, as you start heading to the bathroom to run the shower water, you stumble over a pair of shoes. This leads to your coffee falling, shattering your mug, and your coffee covering the floor. This is infuriating to you. You start slamming the cabinets, making all sorts of noises, feeling so angry, and you think about how awful your day is and how this stuff always happens to you. You have no motivation to do anything else during the day because you have shifted into a negative mindset and continue feeling negative emotions.

Although this story is a simple challenge, many individuals have this exact response. Some individuals couldn’t care less about their coffee spilling, while others milk this moment for the rest of their day. As you read this story, you might be laughing because you see yourself doing these exact things. Others reading this might laugh because they think this response is ridiculous. How can two different people experience the same moment, but have very different reactions? The answer is simply their perspectives and their thoughts. I will explain how Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can change your thinking and improve behavior; you don't need to have a mental disorder/illness to benefit from it.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a common form of talk therapy where individuals become more aware of their negative thinking patterns. CBT will help them manage their emotional reactions and better cope with life stressors. Stress is an inevitable part of life, and regulating stress is very important for our nervous system. The cognitive model, which I will explain in a second, was created by Aaron Beck. This model is the foundation of CBT and one tool for how we regulate our nervous system. The cognitive model has a three-step process:

Situation→ Automatic Thought(s)→ Reaction (emotion, behavior, physiological response)

While observing this model, we can see that the situation is the starting point for all our reactions; this is any moment that causes a stress response within our body. In the story above, the situation was tripping on a pair of shoes and spilling the coffee. This event triggered automatic negative thoughts (this always happens to me, this day is awful, etc.) and led to slamming the cabinets, intense anger, and lack of motivation. When an event like this happens, we develop very strong emotions and begin to run on autopilot. When we start doing these behaviors and having these thought patterns, we lack awareness and become hyper-focused on the problem. This is dangerous because it will leave you in an unmotivated and low mood. Sometimes, we need to step back from the situation and challenge the thoughts inside of our heads. We could ask ourselves questions like:

Is my day awful? Or is just this moment difficult?

Does this ALWAYS happen to me? Or only once in a while?

I can feel mad, except is there a healthier way to release my anger then slamming the cabinets? Can I go for a walk? Can I go work out? Can I try mindful breathing?

In addition to asking ourselves these questions, we can label our thoughts by which kind of negative thinking pattern that’s occurring. Learning these cognitive distortions through self-education and therapy have helped adjust my perspectives on various situations. Some examples of these negative thinking patterns are:

All or Nothing- You see things as either good or bad. Either black or white with no shades of gray.

Overgeneralization- You see a single negative event as something never-ending

Mental Filter- Only seeing the bad in a situation and not being optimistic

Disqualifying the positive- You disregard positive experiences and behave as if they don’t count

Jumping to conclusions- You interpret something negatively even though you have no evidence supporting your conclusion

Mind Reading- When you know what the other person is thinking even when they haven’t told you

Fortune Telling- Predicting the future and expecting the worst possible outcome

Catastrophizing- You either blow things out of proportion or minimize things

Emotional Reasoning- You believe your negative emotions are how things are (not just a feeling)

Should Statements- Using “should”, “need to”, or “must” when describing others and themselves

Labeling and Mislabeling- Attaching a label to someone based on a single behavior and/or event

Personalizations- Assuming that someone's negative behavior is a result of you

When we rationalize the situation, we develop a calmer and more realistic perspective. Our nervous system calms down, we feel less angry, and we maintain motivation for the day. Once we begin developing negative thought patterns and continue to respond negatively, it could lead to a dysregulated nervous system and increase the chances of mental illness. As mentioned before, when we emerge into this state of mind, we lack awareness of our hurtful behaviors and our reality. Constant repetition of these behaviors will lead to many issues within other aspects of your life if it becomes a habit. CBT is one of the many ways that we could prevent ourselves from developing mental illness and it can help manage their symptoms.

Every single person can benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy because it is a process that encourages positive behavior and emotions. Everyone has highs and lows in their life, and everyone experiences unpleasant situations. However, it is imperative that an individual knows how to better cope with these situations and can learn to live happier and healthier lives. Therapy is another tool that gives you take-home worksheets, emotional regulation techniques, and other sources to help with areas of opportunity. CBT can help you understand yourself more, understand why you have certain behaviors, and where you can overcome barriers in all areas of life. There is a large misconception that a person needs to have major problems, trauma, or a mental health condition to receive therapy. This is a myth because therapy is simply the process of bettering yourself and learning how to process life events. When someone does this they could relieve self-destructive thoughts and behaviors.

Overall, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the many routes an individual can take toward improving their mental health. When we approach each situation differently and realize that we are in control of our happiness and mind, we can then become free from constant negativity. When Bob Marley quotes, “None but ourselves can free our mind”, it is fascinating to see how we are in control of so much more than we can imagine. We can’t control certain situations, people, or thoughts from coming into our minds, but we can control the way we respond to them. When an individual can develop this mentality and this coping skill, life could be more optimistic.