Cognitive restructuring
'Cognition' is a word used to denote a thought or belief, and 'restructuring' involves challenging a cognition by looking at the evidence for or against it. The basic idea behind cognitive restructuring is that thoughts themselves are not facts; you need to consider whether the thoughts you are having are true and to consider whether there are any other ways to thinking about a particular situation. At first this can be a real challenge: we often believe what we think and don't question our own thoughts. However, often our thinking is biased, and with perfectionism it can be biased towards thinking too negatively and harshly about yourself.
Welcome
Hello. Welcome to the Focused Minds program.
There are eight sessions available to you from your home page.
This program is self-guided which means you complete each session in your own time and at your own pace. Sessions take around 20 minutes to complete and will be available for 6 weeks from the time you first enrolled.
These sessions are designed to help guide your discovery and to challenge your beliefs around 'the need to achieve'. These session will work best for you when approached with a sense of curiosity. Be honest when completing these activities and be open to learning new information about yourself.
We hope you find this a valuable learning tool and that you can apply the skills you learn here to your everyday life.
The Program
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in almost all parts of daily life: who we socialise with, where we go, the way we do our work or study. Undoubtedly, one of the biggest challenges has been how quickly things can change. Overnight lockdowns and moving to online platforms has made it difficult to plan ahead, stick to a routine, and build good habits, particulary if you don't know whether next week you'll be allowed out of the house.
These challenges brought about by the pandemic have impacted the mental-health of everyone. As well as increased social isolation and feelings of disconnection, the last year has also impacted people's motivation, work and study opportunities, and ability to progress towards life-goals. This can cause major problems with feelings of self-worth and identity. You may have noticed that, despite your best efforts to keep going, you feel highly critical of what you can achieve.
If you...
Perfectionism is the term we will use to refer to all these difficulties you may experience with goal attainment; we will refer to this range of feelings and challenges as perfectionism throughout the program.
Feel under immense pressure to succeed
Become fixated on your mistakes
Work relentlessly until you have achieved what you want
Only feel a task is worth doing if it can be done 100%
Are highly self-critical
Feel that whatever result you achieve, it's never good enough.
The Focused Minds program will cover:
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Reasons to change
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Self-esteem
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Unhelpful thought patterns
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Self-criticism
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The maintenance cycle
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Myths around perfectionism
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Procrastination