Episode 13

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Published on:

10th Oct 2023

Unravelling Anxiety: the Treatments

Anxiety Treatments

In today's episode of MaryLayo Talks, I continue talking to psychotherapist, Suzi Williams, about anxiety. This time we focus more on the various treatments, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and self-help tips, that can be applied to help improve our mental health and wellbeing. 

The conversation covers:

  • The treatments used to explore anxiety and reframe our mindset. 
  • What CBT is and how it works
  • Exposure therapy
  • Psychodynamic therapy
  • Psychoeducation
  • How to know if I have anxiety
  • Self-help tips
  • Bible verses for anxiety

Take a moment to delve into what may be 'beyond the smile' - listen in to the conversation.

Guest details:

Suzi is a Person-Centred psychotherapist passionate about self-discovery, self-development and personal growth.

Guest's website

MaryLayo's spiritual wellbeing tip: Meditate on the bible scriptures Luke 12:24-26 & Philippians 4:6-77.

Related resources: Also check out podcasts Episode 11: Unravelling Anxiety & Episode 12: Unravelling Anxiety Part 2.

Connect with MaryLayo:

LinkedIn

Instagram

For help in dealing with mental health related matters, please seek specialist advice and support if needed.

Transcript

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Marylayo: Welcome to Marylayo Talks, a

podcast that discusses mental health and

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spiritual well being.

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Before we jump in, there may be episodes that

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are particularly sensitive for some listeners,

and if that applies, then I hope you'll be

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able to join me whenever you feel ready and

able.

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In the last couple of episodes, we covered a

lot of ground talking about anxiety with Susie

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Williams, a psychotherapist.

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But I thought it'll be good to delve into the

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treatment side of things even more.

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So I brought Susie back.

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I asked her to tell us more about the

treatments that can be used to explore our

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anxieties and reframe our mindset.

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Let's join in the conversation.

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Speaker B: Welcome back, Susie.

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Suzi: Thank you.

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Thank you.

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So CBT cognitive behavioural therapy is

considered first line treatment for anxiety.

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It's how can I put it?

Evidence and collaborative based work that

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that person will do with a therapist.

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Marylayo: Okay.

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Suzi: So it focuses on the thought

process and seeks to identify negative

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thinking.

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Negative thought processes.

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There's many individuals who have a negative

way of thinking but are not really aware that

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the way I think is unhelpful.

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And the way that a person thinks could be in

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relation to, I mentioned earlier, the schema,

the blueprint or template that a person's

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thoughts and beliefs are structured within.

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So a past experience, for example, if someone

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has had many past experiences that have led

them to and these past experience have not

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been resolved cognitively, then you get a

build up of negative thoughts.

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Or just the schema will then influence the way

in which you perceive and understand

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situations.

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So going back to cognitive behavioral therapy,

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it helps to highlight and identify that

actually your thought process here is looking

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a bit distorted.

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So it identifies negative thoughts, it

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challenges these negative thoughts, and it

provides an individual with tools to challenge

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them.

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Thoughts away from the therapy room, per se.

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Marylayo: Are there any other forms of

treatments or techniques other than CBT?

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Suzi: Absolutely.

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CBT will actually bring in it will help with

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cognitive restructuring.

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So I just want to say that it does center

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around thoughts, feelings, and behavior,

because the idea is that our thoughts is

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what's triggering the anxiety.

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So there's a situation in front of us.

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We sense danger.

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I start thinking danger about these thoughts.

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I'm now underestimating my ability to cope

with this or receive support so that then

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triggers those hormones.

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I start to get these physical sensations, and

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then my behavior changes and I'll avoid the

situation.

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Or we mentioned before, didn't we?

I'll begin to isolate myself.

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I'll withdraw that sort of thing.

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And so CBT will focus on those three

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components, the thoughts, the feelings, and

the behavior, but particularly the cognitions,

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the thoughts.

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And within that, that's where you work with

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your as I've mentioned, you work with your

therapist to identify the thoughts and replace

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them with positive and healthy thinking.

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In terms of other forms of treatment, you've

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got exposure therapy as well.

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Marylayo: Exposure therapy.

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Suzi: Yes, it's a type of therapy that in

a controlled and systematic way, sort of

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presents to you the situation that you're

afraid of.

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Marylayo: Realize actually you are able to

cope with it, address it, deal with it, and I

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guess the fear factor will then diminish

because you've been able to get through it

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unscathed.

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Suzi: Yeah. Okay, so you've got the CBT,

you've got exposure therapy.

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I think I did mention also you've got

psychodynamic therapy, which can help us to

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identify, well, why do I think this way?

And as I mentioned before, this could be

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related to a past experience.

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So for example, someone that may have been

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bitten by a dog when they were younger or they

witnessed someone bitten by a dog, or they

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heard a story of someone being bitten by a dog

and this was not resolved within their mind.

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And so now they've sort of churned these

thoughts over to where now they perceive dogs

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as danger.

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So anytime they see a dog, it's I can't go

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near it, I don't want to walk past it, or in

fact, I'm not even leaving the house because

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I'm anxious.

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And so the psychodynamic therapy can help to

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uncover that perhaps the origins of these

thoughts are not about the dog right now, but

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the anxiety.

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It's sort of like a learnt behavior based on

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that past experience.

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And what we want to do is identify that that

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was the past.

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Now we are in the present because anxiety,

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that's what it does.

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It takes us out of the present and we're

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anticipating the future.

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Something that hasn't happened, usually

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irrationally.

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Yes.

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And so the psychodynamic therapy can help to

ease that discomfort or that franticness that

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it's about now it's about the dog in front of

me when actually no, it's a response that you

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had once before, but now you've developed some

safety behaviors, which is reinforcing your

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anxiety.

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Sure.

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Marylayo: Brilliant. So Susie, so far you've

mentioned, know, CBT and that exposure

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therapy, et cetera.

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And these are working collaboratively with

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others to address the issue.

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How can someone then help themselves if they

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didn't want to, for example, work with someone

else or another professional?

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Are there ways that they can help to address

and confront or challenge their anxieties as

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they arise and then hopefully deal with it

really and deal with it effectively?

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Suzi: Yes, there are.

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I mean, first and foremost, anyone that feels

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that they're suffering with anxiety, I would

always suggest to get checked to perhaps get

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it diagnosed.

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So you're not working with something that's

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not actually there.

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You want to know that, okay, this is anxiety

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that I'm dealing with here.

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And we talked about the difference in the

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symptoms that overlap.

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So actually I might be dealing with stress or

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I might be dealing with depression and not so

much anxiety.

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So a GP can actually diagnose, okay, this is

anxiety.

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So you want to have that awareness that these

are the symptoms I'm getting?

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They're matching symptoms of anxiety.

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Just for that, reassurance your GP, clarifies,

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that for you.

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And then, yes, you're aware from that you

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might want to get some psycho education.

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So that's just educating yourself.

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These are like the initial steps, by the way.

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Marylayo: Yeah, psycho education.

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Suzi: Educate yourself on these

conditions, on mental health and how it shows

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up, what it looks like.

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Marylayo: And when you say educating

ourselves, not necessarily going to going back

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to school or doing oh, no, just basically

reading up, reading sources, just generally

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building up our knowledge and informing

yourself.

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Informing yourself.

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Suzi: I mean, in my line of what we call

it psycho education, and I do offer that

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because it's important that you know what it

is.

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Once you've got that knowledge and you know

this is what it is, what you would want to do

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then is now address your physical symptoms,

because the physical symptoms can prevent us

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from dealing with the real issue, which is the

thoughts.

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So we want to practice relaxation.

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Yeah, that's the first tip, I would say what

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helps you to relax, get yourself into a state

of relaxation.

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Okay.

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Whether that be exercising, it might be going

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for a run, it might be going for a walk, it

might be having a warm bath.

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It might be getting good sleep.

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Yeah.

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Allow yourself to relax, because the bodily

symptoms can be distressing in itself, which

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then prevents you from working on the

thoughts.

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So first tip, practice relaxation.

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Secondly, I would say reduce your stress

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levels.

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Marylayo: Okay?

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Suzi: So check in with yourself.

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What's going on around me right now?

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What's happening in my life right now that

could be triggering these symptoms?

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And then work to bring yourself into the

present, because as I've said, anxiety is all

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about anticipating the future.

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So when you're anxious, you're not actually.

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Suzi: In the present, you're not present.

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Suzi: What can I do to get myself back

into the here and now?

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And that might be again, check in with

yourself.

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Where am I?

What's happening right now?

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I'm sitting in front of my desk.

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I'm touching the desk.

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I'm looking at my computer.

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It's almost like you're connecting with the

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here and now.

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Let me touch my forehead.

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Let me touch my chest.

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Suzi: Okay?

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Suzi: So that's reminding you that I'm

here, I'm in this realm and not in the realm

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of the future.

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Bring yourself into the present and ask

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yourself those questions.

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What am I doing right now?

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Where am I?

Okay.

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And then you want to start begin to ask

yourself, what am I thinking?

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What's going on up there?

Am I thinking?

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Have I had a thought today that has triggered

these symptoms?

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We get over 100 thoughts in a day, okay?

We get multiple faults in a day.

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And there could be one thought, just one, that

has upset or triggered those hormones that

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send you into danger mode.

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What have I fought today?

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What have I been thinking, what's happened?

And what am I thinking about this?

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Because that's probably where the situation

lies that's likely to be causing the anxiety.

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So check in with your thoughts and keep a

thought diary, a thought journal, write them

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down and then begin to challenge those

thoughts.

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So it sort of ties in with exposure therapy,

exposing yourself to this matter.

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Because, as I've mentioned, we're probably

thinking, I can't deal with what I'm thinking.

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These imaginations that I'm getting, you're

sort of anticipating or underestimating your

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ability to cope.

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So face the thought, what's happening?

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Okay, if this was to happen, what would I do?

What support is available for me if this was

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to happen?

So you're challenging it, you're confronting

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it, and what you would find is that your

physical symptoms will begin to alleviate.

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Marylayo: Okay. As you were talking, I also

remembered how there's this thing about

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positive visualization, and I wonder how that

kind of comes into play.

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And you know about how, for example, when

someone is fearful or anxious when it comes to

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public speaking and doing a presentation,

there's this tip or advice I've heard that the

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person should actually prepare as part of that

preparation process.

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They should picture themselves doing the

presentation or how does it feel going into

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the room?

Visualize it.

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Visualize the audience staring at you,

visualize yourself speaking confidently or so

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there's that thing about also bringing

yourself to the future in that specific

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circumstance that you're worried or concerned

about, and preparing your mind so that it

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adjusts and it prepares for what's coming.

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So that, I guess it's not a bit of a shock to

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the system.

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And you like, oh, my gosh, the room is filling

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up with people.

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I'm going to do my presentation now.

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It's like, no, but you've actually done that

groundwork in terms of preparing the mind and

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how you feel, how it's going to be, et cetera,

and beforehand.

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Suzi: Yeah.

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Marylayo: So it was just something that just

came to my mind as you were talking.

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Suzi: Yeah. No, you're right.

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I particularly don't work with visualization,

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but I can see that again, how that would work

because it's like what you said earlier, it's

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sort of preparing yourself or learning that

you can tolerate with the catastrophic

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thoughts and ideas that you're getting.

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So absolutely, I can see how that would be so

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helpful, extremely helpful to an individual.

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Marylayo: Thanks, Susan.

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Here are some spiritual wellness tips that you

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can meditate on.

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The first is Luke, chapter twelve, verse 24 to

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26, which reads, consider the ravens, they do

not sow or reap.

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They have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds

them, and how much more valuable you are than

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birds.

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Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour

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to your life?

Since you cannot do this very little thing,

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why do you worry about the rest?

The other you can meditate on is Philippians,

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chapter four, verses six to seven, which

reads, don't be pulled in different directions

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or worried about a thing.

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Be saturated in prayer throughout each day,

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offering your faith filled request before God

with overflowing gratitude.

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Tell Him every detail of your life.

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Then God's wonderful peace that transcends

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human understanding will guard your heart and

mind through Jesus Christ.

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Thank you for listening.

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Do follow and join me again next time on Mary

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Layo.

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Talks beyond the smile.

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About the Podcast

Beyond the Smile
with MaryLayo
Beyond the Smile - with MaryLayo is about issues and life events that negatively affect our mental health and spiritual wellbeing (biblical perspective). Various topics will be discussed, alongside guests, to help listeners understand more about their challenges and learn how they can live a more free and radiant life.

About your host

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MaryLayo Talks

MaryLayo is a podcaster, with a strong interest in mental wellbeing, social justice and issues which affect the lives of vulnerable individuals and communities. She has extensive experience in research programme management, and like research, sees her podcast as a way – through the help of guests, to find out relevant, useful information to share, inform and help others (but with the fun-factor thrown in).

MaryLayo is keen for the messages of her Christian faith to be relatable to the everyday person and volunteers for several charities. Her hobbies include voice-overs, singing and travelling.