Mental Health Training

Debunking the myths

Myths about Mental Health Training

As a mindset trainer, I work with people on building a strong mental health. There is so much information out on the internet on how to be positive and more grateful and happier. However, for so many people this is very overwhelming and confusing. Mental health training is not about being positive all the time. It is not about just thinking happier thoughts and your life will automatically be happier. Mental health training is about finding the cause for what is happening and working on changing the thoughts behind it.

Mental health training is about working on why you are choosing to think the way you are and deciding what it is you really want. The mind is the most powerful tool we have and most of us don’t understand its true power. Our minds can be conditioned and sculptured to think in any way and believe almost anything. If you have never heard of the experiment Pavlov’s Dog, read it here and begin to understand the power of mental training.

Myth #1

Mental Health Training is a quick fix. Unfortunately, many clients who come to me are after a quick, short-term fix but mindset training doesn’t work that way. There are things you can learn to help reduce anxiety in the moment, but if you are after a permanent change then mindset training is a practice. Many of our negative thoughts are on autopilot and have been there for years so expecting to change these thoughts overnight rarely happens. There will be some rapid bursts of improvement here and there, but mental training is no different from physical training: time spent consistently over the long term will yield best results.

The mind just wants to be right, efficient and fast and its ultimate goal is to protect us. To be right – the mind focuses on finding all the evidence that what you choose to focus on is right. To be efficient – the mind wants to use as little energy as possible so always falls back to what it already knows – whether this serves us or not. To be fast – the mind relies on the neural pathways it creates and these often become default thoughts.

Myth #2

Working on training my mind takes too much time. Mindset training does not have to take a lot of time, especially when you have easy techniques and strategies in place. Developing a strong and healthy mindset is about reprogramming any thoughts that no longer serve you. When you understand WHY you are choosing to think a certain way and you decide that you no longer want this – spending a few minutes a day is often all it takes.

Myth #3

If I’m working on my mind, there must be something wrong with me. Mental health training is about understanding your thoughts – which you control – and finding ways to make these thoughts work for you, not against. Everyone should work on their mind but many of us only work on our mindset when we hit rock bottom. Think of mental health training as finally opening up the user manual for your brain and reading all the instructions. We often believe we know what we are doing but if we just read the manual first, we wouldn’t waste so much time guessing what our next move is.

Myth #4

I’m too old to change my ways. This one always makes me laugh. Every day you wake up to thoughts. Every day you make decisions about your life – decisions are just thoughts you control. Every day you go to bed with more thoughts. If you want to understand your thoughts on a deeper level and make changes to your thinking, there is never a better time than today. Age is irrelevant!!

Myth #5

Mindset Training is about thinking positively all the time. This is definitely not true and not realistic. Understanding and accepting negative emotions is just as vital to strong mental health as positive emotions. We have no control over what life will throw our way and there is no way of protecting us from sadness or disappointment. Mental health training teaches the skills to work through these times more easily and accept each and every emotion. Most of us want to think more positively and mental training does this but not at the expense of denying negative emotions.

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