Point #2 is actually something that comes up in Eastern Orthodox spirituality. The ascetics of the Church have devoted a great deal of attention to logismoi, or the random thoughts that pop into our minds at every moment. Every sin and temptation begins with a thought, but a thought doesn't become a sin until it becomes an intentional decision. You also can't stop these thoughts from appearing at random; but with practice, one can learn to better control what to do about them; ideally, ignore them if they're bad, follow them if they're good. I think that can be a form of decentering--you're not your thoughts, and your thoughts don't necessarily have to have anything to do with you.
I know Bishop Alexis Trader has written about overlaps between Orthodox spirituality and cognitive therapy. He used to have a blog, but that seems to be down now; he still has books, though. Might be worth looking up.
Thanks for this! Really easy to see how these strategies could be applied with practice. I'm particularly keen on the 'I'm noticing...' approach as a means to distance yourself from over-identification with any negative thought.
At my self-help therapy group we speak about pausing before reacting. This can be a form of decentering if I am able to take a step away from an emotion to try to look at the situation objectively. Is the emotion justifiable? There are times when anger is justifiable and this is when it is the hardest to maintain an emotional balance. At those times all I can do is let it go, distract myself or walk away. Then I try to find my part in it and try to forgive. Thanks for a thought provoking article.
Awesome article. I feel that much of the mental health struggles today are due to self-centered ness. I’m an ex-therapist and I’ve seen it alot!
Point #2 is actually something that comes up in Eastern Orthodox spirituality. The ascetics of the Church have devoted a great deal of attention to logismoi, or the random thoughts that pop into our minds at every moment. Every sin and temptation begins with a thought, but a thought doesn't become a sin until it becomes an intentional decision. You also can't stop these thoughts from appearing at random; but with practice, one can learn to better control what to do about them; ideally, ignore them if they're bad, follow them if they're good. I think that can be a form of decentering--you're not your thoughts, and your thoughts don't necessarily have to have anything to do with you.
I know Bishop Alexis Trader has written about overlaps between Orthodox spirituality and cognitive therapy. He used to have a blog, but that seems to be down now; he still has books, though. Might be worth looking up.
Thanks for this! Really easy to see how these strategies could be applied with practice. I'm particularly keen on the 'I'm noticing...' approach as a means to distance yourself from over-identification with any negative thought.
At my self-help therapy group we speak about pausing before reacting. This can be a form of decentering if I am able to take a step away from an emotion to try to look at the situation objectively. Is the emotion justifiable? There are times when anger is justifiable and this is when it is the hardest to maintain an emotional balance. At those times all I can do is let it go, distract myself or walk away. Then I try to find my part in it and try to forgive. Thanks for a thought provoking article.