What is the Worry Tree
If you have ever had counselling or Cognitive Behaviour Therapy you will know how powerful the worry tree is.
Let’s face it, some of us spend a lot of time worrying and suffer from anxiety from time to time over things we really cannot change at the time. We worry about the past, the present and the future.
How can such a simple system change your life for the better?
The worry tree helps you to deal with worrying thoughts and it helps you to put them in the right place at the right time (past, present and future).
How many of you spend hours daydreaming about certain situations that you have absolutely no control over, yet you indulge it time and time again! This really does not make you happy or anyone that is affected by this around you.
The worry tree can help you if you suffer from any of the following:
- If you spend frequent moments pondering on “what if”.
- If you spend frequent moments thinking and worrying about the future.
- If you spend frequent moments thinking and worrying about things you cannot change or deal with right now.
- If you spend frequent moments going through the motions of how you are going to physically handle difficult situations or relationships including talking yourself through it, then feeling distraught, anxious or angry afterwards.
- If you spend frequent moments thinking of hypothetical situations and imagine the worst-case scenarios.
- If you have something going on in your life that you are worrying about:
- Your child may be being bullied at school or you are being bullied at work
- You are dealing with debt
- You have just been made redundant and are appealing the redundancy
- You are going through a stressful situation dealing with a difficult neighbour
- You are currently having counselling or CBT Therapy.
All of the above is a complete waste of your valuable time. You are not living in the moment and you are missing life and what is going on around you right now. You are thinking and feeling things that have no importance to your time in any present moment.
When you get worrying thoughts and feelings you need to do the following:
1. Notice the worry.
2. Ask yourself what you are worrying about.
3. Ask yourself if it is a worry about a current problem or a hypothetical situation or can you do anything about this right now.
If the answer is no:
Let the worry go and change your focus of attention.
If the answer is yes:
- Is it a current problem? If it is, set an action plan on how you are doing to deal with it now. Once dealt with, let the worry go and change your focus of attention.
- Is it a future problem? Schedule a date of when you are going to deal with it. Let the worry go and change your focus of attention.
It genuinely is as simple as that. Click here to see the worry tree.
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