This assignment started out by reading 3 articles about using cognitive-behavioral therapy tips in order to achieve positive outcomes. After reading these, I had to meet with my chat group for one hour. In the chat group, we first had to each chat about our term projects, including our progress and how we are feeling about it. Next, we had to act as CBT therapists, and discuss some techniques we learned from the articles that we thought may help our other chat group members get through their anxieties and stresses regarding their own projects. We ended by saying goodbye to our chat groups, since this was the final chat we had with them, and in the course in general!
The first article discussed cognitive restructuring exercises that can help improve mood and reduce stress. The exercises they included were practice noticing when you are having a cognitive distortion, track the accuracy of your thoughts, behaviorally testing your thoughts, evaluating evidence for and against your thought, mindfulness meditation, and self-compassion. They suggested that following some of these techniques will be successful in overcoming your mental struggles related to a stressor!
The second article discussed self-help related to CBT. It suggested using realistic and balanced thinking, rather than unrealistic and unhelpful thinking. It says that being more of your own thoughts is important, and to notice changes in emotion.It finally suggested to right down some realistic thoughts and coping statements, so you can look at them if you are ever feeling too distressed.
The third article discussed how to use cognitive-behavioral therapy to avoid procrastination. It discusses that when someone is practicing avoidance behaviors, and it is easy to get overwhelmed, but there are ways to get through this. They suggest setting SMART goals in order to break down your goal into achievable steps. SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound.
For my group’s final chat, we started with talking about our term projects and how we were feeling about them. Erin started by telling my group members that I chose the deep dive option with the media being a tumblr blog. Her research question was “how is the internet affecting our attention.” Since she already turned in my term project, she was mostly feeling anxious about the choices she made with her blog, and anxious that she didn’t do enough to fully answer the research question.
Seraph suggested that if Erin had any concrete changes she wanted to make, she might still be able to do that. I said that hard work pays off and is recognized.
Seraph said that her term project was the whole course option. She chose to write summaries with high school students as her audience, and right now she’s working on finalizing everything and making sure to not sound too dogmatic. She is also trying to find pictures and gifs that she can add to make her blog fun. Overall, she’s just feeling overwhelmed about all her other course assignments.
I did the whole course option and made daily blog posts with my reflections on the course content. So far, I am about 80 posts in and am hoping to finish as soon as possible. I am feeling very good about his project and feel good about the amount of hard work and detail that has gone into it. In the beginning, I felt a little stressed because I was falling behind, but when I caught up, it was fine.
I am is feeling stressed about another class where I haven’t heard back about a paper grade yet. Seraph and Erin agreed that not hearing back about grades can be really stressful. I started out by saying that Erin’s anxieties might stem from cognitive distortion, and she should track the evidence for and against my thoughts. I suggested writing 2 columns as exemplified in the Anxiety BC article.
Seraph suggested that Erin try to do self compassion. Next, Seraph seems to be on a really good track with her term project, so we didn’t need to go over SMART goals, but she suggested that she could try mindfulness meditation to ease the overwhelming feeling of finals. I suggested she could try self-compassion and remind herself that she is probably doing a great job, and shouldn’t worry too much about a minor area.
Erin suggested that I try to challenge any negative thought about getting his grades back and writing out why he might be worried and why those feelings might not be rational. Seraph suggested tracking the evidence of the negative thoughts and possibly emailing the professor or TA for updates. She also suggested mindfulness practice and working on focusing on the present.
We concluded the chat by thanking one another for our participation and hard work throughout our time together.
Reflecting on the assignment, I thought it was cool to read the three articles on CBT. Usually, when I think of CBT, I think of it involving a therapist, rather than trying to change things on my own. However, this broadened my horizons, and included some great suggestions for if I end up being stressed. I thought it was especially smart to include the article on procrastination, since college students face this issue quite often generally.
Additionally, the last chat group chat went very well. We all did a great job explaining our term project situations and giving advice to one another on how to improve our mental situations regarding the project and other stressors.
It is bitter sweet that this was the last chat. I am thankful that the semester is nearing an end because I have worked hard and want summer to come. However, I have enjoyed chatting with my chat group each week. They are both very kind people and made the chats more enjoyable than I expected going in.
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