Positive Self Talk - The Art Of Thought Stopping
How To Stop That Negative Inner Talk

Positive self talk involves the technique of thought stopping. In anorexia and other eating disorders it helps put a halt to the relentless negative inner talk, also known as the eating disorder voice, or "ED".

Positive self talk isn't like talking to yourself out loud in a crazy or literal sense. The phrase simply refers to the flow of thoughts that are already present in our heads.

These are thoughts than randomly fly in and out. Sometimes we become very entrenched in negative self talk that we almost don't even know that we're doing it.

In order to get hold of this negative voice, we need to monitor our thoughts. However, doing this on a daily basis can be a difficult task. It usually helps to keep a journal - and here are some journal writing ideas to help get you started ;)

If you're recovering from anorexia or another eating disorder, having a good therapist is a must.

Positive self talk is a stepping stone to self-acceptance and is essential when you begin to deal with body image and self esteem issues. There are some basic steps that you can take to stop negative inner talk and learn how to think positive.

Thought Stopping And Positive Self Talk - You Are What You Think

Positive self talk and learning how to change your thoughts through the process of "thought stopping" is part of cognitive behavior modification therapy. Psychologist Donald Meichenbaum believed, "You are what you think".

In other words, if we're constantly telling or sending ourselves negative message such as, "I'll never be able to do that" .... "I'm no good at anything", then we will eventually believe it.

This causes us to become stuck in the vicious circle of dysfunctional thought patterns, which can result in undesirable behaviors.

Changing these thought patterns may require the help of a psychotherapist. In my case, I was so used to the negative inner talk that it had become part of me. I didn't even notice that I was doing it.

In a situation like that, it's imperative to have a counselor who can act as your guide, so to speak, and alert you to these destructive thoughts until such time that you are able to it for yourself. That's when you know that therapy is really working! ;)

Here are three "simple" steps that will show you how to change your thoughts:

• Learn to recognize negative self talk. As already mentioned, this might require the help of a therapist. Once you know what the thoughts are, it's usually helpful (especially in therapy) to write them down.


• Use a thought stopping command, such as: "stop", "shut up", "that's enough" --it can be anything you want ... and then take a deep breath :)


• Now to need to re-program the brain and replace that ugly thought with some positive self talk. ("I can do anything that I put my mind to"..., "I'm truly a beautiful person"...). I relied my therapist to help with this phase as well, but you will eventually get to the point where you can do it yourself.

Writing down those positive messages and self affirmations is super-effective, especially when you place them on sticky-notes and leave them all around the house so you have to read them every 5 minutes ;)

Read on about how cognitive restructuring therapy is used in the treatment of eating disorders like anorexia.

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