As Psychologists we keep talking about self-monitoring and we often use reflective questions. Why? What do we even mean by that? Why is it important? Self-monitoring is a way to check in on yourself that can help promote and sustain mental health since it enables you to reflect on how you are gong. When we stop to see how we’re going it can serve as an important way to determine where we are at, not only in terms of our levels of stress, but also with unhelpful thoughts that can get in the way of us engaging in life. Sure, we can’t control what kinds of thoughts pop into our minds, but what we can do is monitor our reaction to them, so they become less of a reaction. This will then enable us to take stress and unhelpful thinking patterns in our stride so we can stay engaged with life. When we self-monitor, we also become more self-reflective. Bringing self-awareness into your everyday life can help promote change for the better, especially when it comes to managing anxiety and low mood.
To help with the process of building self-awareness there are some reflective questions you can ask yourself. You can first start by reviewing your week.
What has occurred this week that you’re grateful for?
What do you deserve credit for?
What hurdles came up? What did you do? If the problem recurs, what, if anything, can you try doing differently?
If you’re finding yourself becoming particularly stuck in anxious or low mood thoughts, then some of these kinds of reflective questions can help you get unstuck:
Is anxiety and/or low mood trying to convince you that your thoughts are true?
Is anxiety and/or low mood trying to make you experience real physical sensations and urges to add “evidence” to its argument?
Is anxiety and/or low mood trying to use other thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, urges, images, and memories as further evidence to convince you that this situation is different?
What can you do in this moment to help you sit with the discomfort of anxiety and/or low mood, so that you can move closer to what is important to you?
Lastly, how can you be prepared for future hurdles? If there’s one thing that can be helpful with self-monitoring, it’s that it can help you better prepare for future hurdles so you’re not caught off guard. Here are some helpful reflective questions that can help in this scenario:
How will anxiety and/or low mood try to hook you in the next few days or weeks? What kinds of patterns have come up before?
How can you plan for anxiety and low mood becoming loud?
How can you be open and curious about your experience rather than judgemental?
Through the use of reflective questions, we can help promote awareness into our behaviour and then make choices that are in line with our own values and beliefs as well as with our own wants in life. Too many times we can fall into the trap of being pulled down the rabbit hole when anxiety and low mood kick in and highjack our thinking. For further support don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team on (03) 9882-8874 to book an appointment.
This blog was written and prepared by Dr Celin gelgec - Clinical Psychologist and Director and Melbourne Wellbeing Group.