Negative Automatic Thoughts

Negative Automatic Thoughts, often called NATs, are exactly that - negative thoughts that pop up in your head automatically, without us making a conscious effort to think about this thing. Some examples might include 'I'm not qualified enough to do this', 'they're angry so I must have done something wrong' or 'I'm not good enough'.

They often involve jumping to the worst case scenario and doubting ourselves, and when NATs go unchecked, they can have negative impacts on our wellbeing and confidence.

So how can we deal with NATs?

1. Catch the thought - becoming aware of what is happening is the first step towards being able to change it

2. Write the thought down - things are much less scary when they are no longer an abstract concept in our head

3. Take the thought to court - how much evidence do we have to suggest that this is true? What are the facts?

For more info on how to tackle NATs, do a Google search for 'Unhelpful Thinking Patterns' - it is these thought processes that normally cause NATs, and once we are aware of these we can work on changing them. NATs are one of the most common topics of work in my counselling & coaching work.