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Managing worries
Discipline the Worried Mind, Reclaim Your Life
‘When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of troubles in his life, most of which had never happened.’
- Winston Churchill
When people enter therapy, one of the most common requests is to eliminate worry. The Roman poet Ovid had the same wish over two thousand years ago, writing that "happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all." However, it's important to realize that worry is a universal experience that we all share. While we agree that the worry spiral can be harmful to our mental health, it also has value for significant events in our lives. Worry may motivate us to take action and prepare for important moments, such as a job interview or a family member's health crisis.
However, excessive worry about everyday events or unlikely scenarios can become intrusive and affect our ability to function. It's like asking an expert accountant to solve a simple addition problem. Overusing worry can cause mental overload, making it difficult to concentrate on tasks, causing muscle tension, and disrupting sleep patterns. It's important to recognize when worry becomes excessive and starts to affect your daily life.
If you find yourself preoccupied with negative thoughts and unable to control your worries, this module is dedicated to you and individuals who may be diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). GAD is a general, long-lasting worry and anxiety about everyday life, about anything and everything. People with GAD imagine the worst happening (and worry about all the possible worst case scenarios). They believe future events are almost always negative, and they won't be able to cope 'when' these things 'do' happen. However, as in all anxiety, they tend to over-estimate the danger, and under-estimate their ability to cope.
Our goal is not to eliminate normal human responses, but to help you examine your attitudes and responses to worry. Often, worry is one step we take to address a problem in our lives. Worrying too much is 'problem-solving without actually solving the problem.’ We visualise all sorts of possible problems. We think about lots of negative outcomes. But, we don’t take action to put any solutions in place. As a result, the problem seems bigger. Worrying thoughts return, and we spend even more time 'problem-(not)-solving'. This leads to more worrying thoughts, and we are stuck in a vicious cycle.
To help break this cycle, this module introduces Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) tools and strategies that help you recognize when you are worrying and interrupt this behavior. This not only frees up more time and energy to manage different types of worries, but also helps you get on with your day.
Managing worries can be challenging when we try to deal with all of them in the same way. Separating worries into different categories can be helpful. There are two main types of worries: hypothetical and practical. Practical worries are about things over which we have some control and that might really happen in the present. For example, "I missed my bus to work and I'm going to be late for an important meeting." Acting on the worry is within our control. On the other hand, hypothetical worries are about things over which we have no control or that may or may not happen. Hypothetical worries usually involve "what if?" questions. For example, "What if I miss the bus to work and then lose my job?" The worry links events that aren't within our control.
For practical worries, a technique called problem-solving can be helpful. This skill takes a step-by-step approach to resolving problems and and supports logical decision-making. For hypothetical worries, it is usually best to let them go. However, this is easier said than done. Worries are like unfinished business that sticks in the mind. Therefore, another technique will be introduced to help settle the mind so that you can focus on the present. The mind is like a mental muscle; we need deliberate and persistent practice to utilize it to the fullest.
To effectively break the cycle of worrying, it's crucial to examine your own responses, thought patterns and reactions towards the unknown. Recognize and confront any efforts to control the uncontrollable aspects of life, which can help you find peace of mind and move forward with confidence.
Therapist
Renee is a registered nurse in Hong Kong, and a Qualified Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner trained in the United Kingdom. She delivers Low-intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (LICBT)- based intervention to clients with mild to moderate anxiety and depression in public and private sectors. She has undergone additional training to effectively support clients with insomnia, obsessive compulsive disorder, health anxiety, and long-term conditions, and working with interpreters. She is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English.
She worked as an Assistant Teacher for the Science of Happiness credit-bearing module at the University of Bristol. She facilitated the learning and development of first-year undergraduate students in weekly happiness hubs, supporting them to build evidence-based wellbeing habits into their lives with findings from Positive and Cognitive Psychology.
Renee is pursuing a Ph.D. in Health Psychology, which helps her shape the resources and services at Person Centre with an additional emphasis on the relationship between mental and physical health, as well as general wellness.
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What are the limits of the Person Centre?There is no magical bullet. We don’t have the answers of what to do with your life and we cannot do the work for you. Our work is a collaborative and active process based on the guided self-help model. We can guide you to get deeper insights into your situation based on psychological science, and, together, we identify strategies and tools that can help. It does require you going away and putting them into practice to make a real change. We are a confidential service with the exceptions if there are concerns about your safety, or the safety of others. We are not a crisis service. Please contact these services if you need immediate mental health support. We are not able to offer you a formal mental health diagnosis. We are not trained to support you to manage certain mental health conditions. If we cannot offer support, we will try our best to signpost you to other services that better suit your needs. We cannot offer support while you are receiving other therapies. We have zero tolerance for aggressive, violent or abusive behaviour.
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Do you offer any low-priced option?We would never want money to restrict you from accessing support for your mental wellbeing. Please get in touch if you need to discuss a payment plan or a reduced fee option. We dedicate 5% of our profit to offer low-cost support individuals with financial difficulties. Families and friends can purchase gift vouchers to support your loved ones to access our service. You will only be charged if the voucher is used.
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Who will offer me the support?Renee is a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner who delivers Low-intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (LICBT)- based intervention to clients with mild to moderate anxiety and depression in public and private sectors. She has undergone additional training to effectively support clients with insomnia, obsessive compulsive disorder, health anxiety, and long-term conditions, and working with interpreters. She is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English.
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What equipment do I need to access the services at the Person Centre?We offer support through online platforms. You will need the Internet and a device such as a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
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How is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy different from Counselling?Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that helps you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. CBT does not remove your problems, but helps you manage them in a more effective way. It encourages you to examine how your actions and thoughts can affect how you feel. CBT is an active therapy and you will be expected to work on your problems between sessions, trying out different ways of thinking and acting, as agreed with your therapist. The aim is for you to develop the skills to become your own therapist. CBT is usually a short-term treatment. For example, a traditional course of CBT may consist of between 6-12 sessions. CBT differs from other types of psychotherapies because it is: pragmatic – it helps identify specific problems and tries to solve them highly structured – rather than talking freely about your life, you and your therapist will discuss specific problems and set goals for you to achieve focused on current problems – it is mainly concerned with how you think and act now rather than attempting to resolve past issues collaborative – your therapist will not tell you what to do; they will work with you to find solutions to your current difficulties Counselling is another type of talking therapy that allows a person to talk about their problems and feelings in a confidential environment. It helps individuals who want to understand issues causing their distress. It can provide a safe and regular space for you to talk and explore difficult feelings. This approach encourages reflection and exploration of underlying conflicts, as well as providing a listening, supportive and containing experience. Counselling can help you to: cope with a bereavement or relationship breakdown cope with redundancy or work-related stress explore issues such as sexual identity deal with issues that are preventing you from achieving your ambitions deal with feelings of depression or sadness, and have a more positive outlook on life understand yourself and your problems better feel more confident develop a better understanding of other people's points of view