Really excellent podcast! I’m sure the subject hits close to home for a lot of listeners. I’d like to add one point from the book “Mind over Mood”.

Rather than simply focusing on the positive (which of course has enormous benefits), it’s a good idea to analyze what’s true and what’s not true (with supporting evidence) for both the negative and the positive thoughts one’s having. You can then combine the true thoughts from both negative and positive sides to form a new and more accurate way of thinking about the issue that’s causing the emotion. Then, the next time you fall into that negative self-talk habit, you’re reminded of the more accurate thought pattern, which can then take over. After a few times, this becomes the new habit and the knee-jerk, negative self-talk subsides.

Another benefit of fully analyzing the negative things that may be true is that you can then try to focus on remediation of those things without them being clouded by other negative thoughts that are unsubstantiated by evidence.

I really like the guest format. Looking forward to more.

Scott