Metacognitive Therapy
– Free Yourself from Imprisoning Thoughts –
Popular Danish Book: Now available in English
“There will always be terms and conditions in our lives that hurt, which we cannot control ourselves. But there is also a lot of unnecessary psychological suffering created through our own thought processes. These thoughts are allowed to imprison us and keep us stuck in an uncomfortable place that is not pleasant to be in. We can minimize unnecessary psychological pain if we begin to focus on how we manage our thoughts instead of solely focusing on what they contain. Therefore, it is so important to disseminate the thinking behind metacognitive therapy along with the awareness that we are not our thoughts, but that thoughts are something we have.”
About the book
From the book
” The difference between thought processes and thoughts is crucial because we will always have thoughts. We cannot simply remove them, and it certainly is not the case that we should do so. Some of my clients wish to never have certain thoughts and feelings. But this battle is lost beforehand. We cannot make a list of over 100 thoughts that we never ever want to have again, and then expect that they will never return. We can never become empty of thought.
Instead, it is obvious to think about what we can do with our thoughts when they pop up. How can we best cope with them, so that they are not running our lives, but rather, we are. Just by understand¬ing that we cannot repress our thoughts and get a beneficial result by doing so, we have removed a large pressure from ourselves. Instead of going into our thoughts all too often to try to analyze and under¬stand them, we can choose another way, which is useful for every¬one, regardless of whether you generally feel healthy and sound, or whether you are weighed down by anxiety or depression.
Imagine that your telephone rings. How big of an influence do you have on your telephone ringing? None. But you can influence what you do with the call. You can choose to answer it. You can choose to turn off the volume. You can choose to not take the call and turn off the telephone or throw it away from you. This example functions in the same way in relation to your thoughts and feel¬ings. You have no influence on what pops up in your thoughts and feelings. Thoughts are electrochemical impulses in our brains, and these we cannot control. But you do have an influence on what you do with your thoughts when they show up.”