Hello, I hope all is well. My name is Hong Jeong and I’m a therapist in Los Angeles. This is my virtual therapy session #5 on how to deal with depression and overcome depression. The main purpose of this video is to give you an experience of how therapy works, in hopes of taking care of your mental health and promoting self-healing process. In this video, we are having a session as if we’re exchanging ideas. So I will ask you questions and give you time to think about your answers along with your feelings and thoughts. You can write down your answers on a piece of paper or say out loud if appropriate. Feel free to pause the video if necessary.
Let’s review your progress!
Step #1: Can you go ahead and fill out PHQ (Patient Health Questionnaire)-9?
*PHQ-9 is an inventory for the signs of depression such as loss of interest in life, poor concentration, feeling down, etc. Your total score indicates the severity of depression.
-Here is a link to PHQ-9: http://www.cqaimh.org/pdf/tool_phq9.pdf
Step #2: How would you describe your mood in the past week?
Step #3: How depressed do you feel on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being emotionally stable and 10 being the most depressed)?
Step #4: In our last session, we’ve talked about a visualization exercise called “container exercise”, When, where, why, and how did you use the container exercise?
Step #5:Due to using the container exercise, how did you feel emotionally and physically?
Step #6: What happened to your overall quality of thoughts when feeling depressed?
*3 components of the overall quality of thoughts include the pace of thinking process (slow, neutral, or fast), the order of thoughts (organized or disorganized thought patterns), and the timeline of thoughts (past, present, and/or future).
Step #7: How much progress did you make on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being no progress and 10 being the most progress)? What is your reason for choosing that number?
Step #8: Can you explain actionable and measurable steps you can take to improve your number? (i.e. walking once a day for 50 minutes, reading for 30 minutes a day, and writing a journal for 20 minutes a day).
Today, This is our last virtual counseling session on how to manage depression. We are putting all the techniques we learned together in our session. Here is how. We are going to use one of the CBT skills called behavioral experiments.
The name of the game behind behavioral experiments is testing your thinking and behaviors, in order to identify and reinforce positive and adaptive thoughts and behaviors.
Step #1: Identify a stressful situation (i.e having a meeting with your boss, having lack of time at work, attending an event alone, and job searching).
Step #2: Notice your physical, emotional, and cognitive state with your stressful situation.
For example, Due to having a meeting with my boss, I noticed tension around my shoulders and feelings of fear and hopelessness. My thinking process was fast and disorganized.
Step #3:Cognitive Defusion- Label/describe your whole thinking process behind your stress in a word.
Step #4: What does that word say about you? Using an I-statement (“I’m ____, I’m not____, I can’t____), Identify your negative core belief in a sentence.
For example, having an insecure thought means that I am incompetent.
*Here is the link to examples of negative and positive core beliefs: https://emdrtherapyvolusia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Beliefs_Negative_Positive.pdf
Step #5 Rate the strength of your belief on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being completely false and 10 being completely true).
Step #6 Plan and conduct a behavioral experiment, in order to test the validity of your negative core belief.
It is important to be SPECIFIC about the plan. I suggest you can plan your behavioral experience by using 5 Ws and H. What, where, who, when, why, and How.
In my case of having an unexpected meeting with my boss, I’ve prepared a set of job performance related questions to ask my boss during my supervision time at my boss’s office and also asked other supervisors the same questions via email.
In this step, I’d encourage you to use your coping skills (the container exercise, deep breathing, going for a walk, taking a nap, etc.) so that you are physically and emotionally ready to do your behavioral experiment.
FYI, the behavioral experiments are considered as value based behaviors. In my case, asking my boss for feedback was aligned with one of my values-honesty. Having an honest conversation with my boss was an effective way to test my negative belief.
Step #7 Evaluate the results.
In my case, I was able to get feedback. I’ve received 80% positive feedback and 20% negative or neutral feedback.
Step #8 Re-rate the strength of your negative core belief. With the results, please check in with yourself physically, emotionally, and cognitively.
Step #9 Identify a positive core belief and rate the strength of your positive belief on a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being completely false and 10 being completely true).
Extra Step: Write down 3 actionable ideas for further practice on your positive belief.
So you can completely believe your positive core belief.
In order to change negative thinking and behaviors, it is important to acknowledge the old patterns first. Then we can reinforce the new patterns. Thank you for working with me through 5 virtual sessions. One statement that sums up all our sessions is “move your body to move your mind.” Without any actions, what we are doing with our mind is just a thought. The change that your actions bring will help your mind and body organize your thoughts and effectively deal with depression, anxiety, stress, or other intense emotions.
I hope that you noticed a shift in your body and mind.
Take care of yourself and do your healing every day.
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