Ever find yourself stuck in a spiral of “what if,” “I should,” or “this always happens”? Thought traps — also known as cognitive distortions — are mental shortcuts your brain uses to protect you under stress. The problem? Those protective patterns can quietly box you in, keeping you from saying what you mean, trying what you want, or becoming who you’re growing into. In this post, we explore common thought traps like catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, mind-reading, and emotional reasoning — along with practical, nervous-system-aware tools to soften them. You’ll learn how subtle language shifts can calm your body, create choice points, and help you step out of rigid thinking patterns. Because you’re not broken — you’re patterned. And patterns can shift.
Tag Archives: ACT and grief
Joel is Gone. Now What?: Surviving the Unthinkable When Your Person Dies
Inspired by the raw emotional gravity of The Last of Us Part II, this blog explores what happens when we lose the person who anchored us to the world—through the lens of Ellie’s grief after Joel’s death. This isn’t just fan commentary; it’s an exploration of real-world attachment loss, adult grief, and how we beginContinue reading “Joel is Gone. Now What?: Surviving the Unthinkable When Your Person Dies”