A useful resource for anxious thoughts:
Recommended by a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist.
In any given week in England, it has been reported by Mind that up to 6 in 100 people will report experiencing symptoms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD).
In talking therapies for Anxiety such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), practitioners often work together with the client to help explore the client's thoughts that are resulting in the feeling of Anxiety. This is in hope of adopting more helpful thinking patterns which reduce the level of anxiety felt, and hopefully increase wellbeing and confidence!
However, it is not only people who experience significant Anxiety that could benefit from exploring their thoughts- We are all human beings and everyone experiences anxious thoughts from time to time! This is normal! These anxious thoughts tend to lead to an unfavourable emotion.
In order to practise more helpful and positive thinking patterns I would like to share a card game which can be used at home… This is called Balance Your Thoughts. This can be found on the Anxiety Canada website along with other helpful resources.
Link: https://www.anxietycanada.com/balance-your-thoughts/
This is described on their website as an anxiety-relief game whereby players can practise turning their worries into more balanced thoughts. I have utilised this in practice a lot as a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist to introduce the concept of thinking traps and thought balancing, before looking at the clients own ‘unbalanced’ thoughts and working on balancing these out.
On the website you can find video explanations on how to play and what thinking traps are as well as a written explanation and examples. There are no age recommendations for playing this game on the website however the game could be adapted accordingly to suit age ranges and cognitive abilities. Parents and caregivers are able to preview the worry cards first and decide which are most appropriate/relevant. Alternatively, custom made worry cards could be used within the game.
I hope you find this resource as useful as I have in practice! Let us know what you think?