Johan

Online Self-Help Resources

There are multiple resources out there for people who are interested in attempting self-help. Aside from just turning to books, people have also turned to the internet for help and guidance in their journey of self-help. Some of the online resources that people use include:

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

This self-help course is especially helpful to individuals who suffer from anxiety, depression, and anger. The best way to use this course is to follow each step over a couple days.

Step 1: To start out with you will begin to notice your feelings, behaviors, and thoughts. On a daily basis we notice them but we don’t usually question why we reacted a certain way. You’ll typically answer questions such as: What distressing emotions/reactions did you feel? What did you do? How did you cope with the feelings you were feeling? The more you practice noticing you feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, the more you’ll see helpful and effective changes in your mood, body, and behavior.

Step 2: Look for cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions are the allusions resulting from the primitive parts of your brain. You don’t notice this, but you use this part of your brain every day; you just never think about the absurd nature of the understandings. It’s key to start discerning these negative thoughts because the emotional brain is too overpowering, making it hard for us analyze our current situation correctly.

You may feel an intense urge to identify with some of your compulsive thoughts and feelings. It will take a lot of willpower and patience to overcome and comprehend this nature of your emotions. Once you spot the cognitive distortions, it will be easy for you to dismiss them for what they are.

Step 3: Dealing with your cognitive distortions. This step is quite possibly one of the most important because if you notice that you possess any cognitive distortions, you need to get control of them. There are ten different distortions that psychologists have identified. A few of those include all or nothing thinking, overgeneralization, the tendency to dwell on small situations, and thinking you have supernatural abilities.

To analyze these thoughts correctly, it’s important to write down what you’ve experienced and continue to interpret what it means. Include three main parts: cause of the negative thought, side effects if you continue on with this mindset, and how you can change the thought into something positive.

2. Online Courses

There are numerous types of online resources for people to try. One in particular is known as The Positive Approach. This course was made to help provide you with a healthy mindset and how to take advantage of your full potential. You are given new lessons each week that can apply to your everyday life, making it a very valuable resource for anyone looking to gain a better perspective on their life.

Link – http://www.trans4mind.com/positive/

Aside, from these two ways listed, there is a wide range of tools for people to use for self-help. Each resource offers something different, making each resource work differently for different individuals.

How to Choose a Good Self-Help Book

Sometimes you get to a point in your life where you need some help. You may turn to the people around you, but you begin to realize that the type of help you need is the type of help others can’t provide you with. So perhaps you will be on the lookout for a good self-help book. You’ll want the book that can provide you with the most help, and there is often a large number to choose from.

Here is a list of what to look for in a self-help book and how to choose the best one for you.

1. Look for a book that focuses on a limited range of problems. The books that tend to rank the highest are the ones that have only focused on a specific disorder.

2. Look at the author credentials. When purchasing a self-help book, you’ll want to get a book that has information that is scholarly and backed well with research and knowledge. Most times, the books ranked the highest are often written by doctors and professors.

3. Avoid the books that have claims that are too good to be true. This is a common thing that’s stated and should be something that is well known to everyone, but it’s especially important when it comes to you helping yourself. For example, if a book claims to banish your anxiety problems forever, don’t get sucked in too easily. Unfortunately, a book cannot be guaranteed to provide you with relief from anxiety, or any other social issue, forever.

4. Is the book you’re looking at based on scientific evidence? This is often hard to tell right off the bat, but know that the books that are ranked highest usually have some sort of data and experiments involved to back up the credibility.

5. Look for a book that helps you monitor your progress. Having this type of guidance and help allows you to see how far you’ve come, which is something wonderful within itself. You can visually see and feel how far you’ve come and how much you’ve changed since the beginning of your self-help journey.

6. Flip through the book and see if it ever discusses the chance of relapse or any setbacks. Only about half of all the self-help books published allude to a sense of setbacks or a relapse and how to bounce back from them.

7. Does the book discuss when you should seek professional help if need be? Sometimes you can’t always help yourself. If you get to that point, it’s important that you get the help you need from someone who specializes in your problem.

There are a large variety of self-help books out there to help you along your journey of helping yourself. It’s key though that you purchase a book that can provide you with the most help and guidance you can get. Don’t go for those books with flashy covers and sayings just because you like the look of them. If need be, look into each book and provide yourself with the best chance of being “healed.”