Therapist's Guide to Clinical Intervention - Sigmund Freud

UTILIZING YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM
EXAMPLES:
1. Talking about your feelings or thoughts with an understanding person
2. Talking to a therapist or counselor
3. Talking to staff at a clinic, hospital, or hot line
4. Arranging not to be alone
5. Going to a support group
6. Spending time with people you like
7. Spending time with a pet
8. Planned activities with a caring and supportive person
Make a list of the things that you plan to do or have done in the past that have been helpful
in decreasing your depression.
Make sure that some of the information you have listed is put into the structure of daily
scheduled activities that you developed. This will reinforce a lifestyle of self-care.
THE POWER OF POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Your attitude will have a significant influence on how you feel and how you evaluate your
life experiences. If you are an optimistic person it is likely that you tend to expect a positive
outcome even from difficult situations. If you are pessimistic you are likely to expect the
worst and probably even look for it. This tendency to expect or look for the negative is
sometimes referred to as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you have a habit of negative thinking there are things that you can do to improve your
attitude.
1. Change your negative thinking to positive thinking. This is not as hard as it
sounds. Taking the following steps will help you change your negative thinking
patterns.
A. Awareness. Work to increase your awareness for negative thoughts. Keep a
journal and write down your negative thoughts. You cannot change the way you
318 3. Skill-Building Resources for Increasing Social Competency