JudyBelmont
Member
My name is Judy Belmont and I have been a psychotherapist for 35 years, as well as a wellness speaker and self-help author. My books have focused on offering practical "hands on" strategies for people to improve their lives. I am the co-author of an upcoming book due to be released in two weeks (10/12/2011), The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life, which is a whimsical self-help book for the general population. It is a tasty, "user-friendly" guide how to overcome life stresses and develop resiliency. The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life is based on the idea that life has holes and it is how you get through them that counts! After all, life is not smooth and predictable like cream cheese or American, and it is overcoming the challenges and the "holes" in our lives that give us depth of character.
Part of the reason for joining is that I am in the process of developing an ebook series, Therapist in Your Back Pocket, in which i will have short ebooks between 20-30 pages including topics like "Happiness in Your Back Pocket" and "Anxiety Relief in Your Back Pocket." I want to get inspiration as well as general ideas of what people are struggling with to make sure what I write is relevant, and can use my responses as a springboard for my writing for the series.
One of my personal mottos is : Think Straight: Feel Great! I am a strong believer in the power of a positive attitude and have been struck in my personal as well as professional life at how important it is to separate facts from interpretations. Differentiation between the stories we tell ourselves and the real facts is the key. Anxiety and low self-esteem result when a person tells themselves judgmental, fictitious labels that they really believe! Although I have long thought that perception is more important than reality, I urge my clients and readers to increase personal self-esteem by being aware of the difference of both, and when the chips are down, remind yourself to stick to the facts, not interpretations! All too often, when they get anxious, depressed or lack confidence, add up equations in their mind such as 2 plus 2 equals 148. Okay - maybe you can stretch 2 plus 2 is 22, but once you get in the world of over -catastrophizing and blowing things out of proportion, the sky is the limit! And then those ingrained patterns keep adding things up even in more bizarre ways.
One of my clients in particular is so sure that her view of herself as a "loser" that each time she keeps adding up things in ways that are idiosyncratic only to her, I add another hundred or so to that 2 plus 2 equation, to get her to see how really absurd this way of thinking is. When she seems ingrained in stubborn and inflexible ways of perceiving situations which she thinks irrationally - such as concluding that her children misbehave because she is an awful mother - I remind her that 2 plus 2 does not equal 3, 048 .....and counting!
So, my other personal motto is: Stick to the facts, not interpretations!
Part of the reason for joining is that I am in the process of developing an ebook series, Therapist in Your Back Pocket, in which i will have short ebooks between 20-30 pages including topics like "Happiness in Your Back Pocket" and "Anxiety Relief in Your Back Pocket." I want to get inspiration as well as general ideas of what people are struggling with to make sure what I write is relevant, and can use my responses as a springboard for my writing for the series.
One of my personal mottos is : Think Straight: Feel Great! I am a strong believer in the power of a positive attitude and have been struck in my personal as well as professional life at how important it is to separate facts from interpretations. Differentiation between the stories we tell ourselves and the real facts is the key. Anxiety and low self-esteem result when a person tells themselves judgmental, fictitious labels that they really believe! Although I have long thought that perception is more important than reality, I urge my clients and readers to increase personal self-esteem by being aware of the difference of both, and when the chips are down, remind yourself to stick to the facts, not interpretations! All too often, when they get anxious, depressed or lack confidence, add up equations in their mind such as 2 plus 2 equals 148. Okay - maybe you can stretch 2 plus 2 is 22, but once you get in the world of over -catastrophizing and blowing things out of proportion, the sky is the limit! And then those ingrained patterns keep adding things up even in more bizarre ways.
One of my clients in particular is so sure that her view of herself as a "loser" that each time she keeps adding up things in ways that are idiosyncratic only to her, I add another hundred or so to that 2 plus 2 equation, to get her to see how really absurd this way of thinking is. When she seems ingrained in stubborn and inflexible ways of perceiving situations which she thinks irrationally - such as concluding that her children misbehave because she is an awful mother - I remind her that 2 plus 2 does not equal 3, 048 .....and counting!
So, my other personal motto is: Stick to the facts, not interpretations!
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