Once negative thoughts are recognised, the next step is to “challenge” them using “tools”. The aim is to weaken the thoughts so they can’t negatively affect the person who has them. On this webpage, I will explain a tool called “naming the thought”. This tool is very powerful and quick at weakening negative thoughts.
Negative thoughts often arise spontaneously and lie just beneath the surface of consciousness, like fish swimming just below the water’s surface. This means that negative thoughts occur almost without you being aware of them.
And just like fish, negative thoughts prefer not to be caught and brought out of the water!
The concept of “naming the thought” is essentially naming, using your inner voice, the negative thought that you have detected. For example, suppose you think the worst will happen at tomorrow’s doctor’s appointment. As soon as you recognise such a thought, you can say to yourself, “This is a catastrophic thought”. As soon as you name such a negative thought, it enters your awareness. This simple act of bringing the thought to the surface “exposes” it and weakens it dramatically.
Some may be quite dismissive of this concept and think, “Surely, it cannot be so simple!” The reality is that simple does not mean not effective. I suggest trying it and seeing for yourself how effective it is. I use “naming the thought” all the time, and I find it really does quickly weaken the power of negative thoughts.
You do not have to use formal psychological names such as “catastrophising thought”. Instead, you can use your own words to describe the thought, for example, “I am thinking only of the worst outcome”. Many people have certain negative thoughts that occur more often than others, and over time, you will find it easy to remember their descriptions.
I strongly encourage you to, when you next recognise a negative thought in you, try the power of naming it.