Gettin Rid of “Stinkin Thinkin”

Imagine your brain like a massive hard drive, super storage space, maybe a gazillion terabytes (that’s a lot of stuff on our minds). What do you think is on it at birth? How much information is on the brain of a newly born baby? The philosopher and teacher David Hume called the mind a “blank slate” at birth. I’ve upgraded this to be the “virtually blank harddrive,” virtually because of some in Vetro experiential loading in the womb.

Every input from the second we’re born… through our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and every nerve loads onto our brain. This super fast processor receives data from parents, family, extended family, media like TV, books and the internet, pets, nature, on and on. Brain or neuroscience experts suggest we don’t forget as much as we have storage and retrieval challenges. Tough to keep all that data in the front of our hard drive.

Amazing to think about. Everything we see, taste, smell, touch, feel and hear is stored in the “background” with very little on the desktop, so to speak.

Wow! So much data. How we organize it from early on in our lives, whether consciously or not, begins to shape our thought patterns, schemata, constructs which then shape our emotions and moods. Together with thoughts and feelings, drive our behaviour; this is simply going on in the background of our mind.

To think almost all the information loaded on our hard drive comes from elsewhere. Why do we quite often believe all the thoughts in our heads are our own? Why do we quite often believe all the thoughts in our heads are our own? This is perhaps my favourite question! That’s why I asked you twice.

If this analogy holds true, consider that we may also call the negative thoughts a virus, which spread, overshadow positive thinking, and disrupt and infect healthier thoughts and files. Suppose it is possible to have a cognitive virus of all those negative, defeating words and phrases? I call this “Stinkin Thinkin.”

We can effectively catch and “quarantine” our negativity through counselling that combines cognitive-behavioural therapy. At the same time, drawing upon narrative theory and re-writing of your story, our professional counsellors help people bring out their more positive thoughts and self which improves mood, emotional expressions and behaviour.

This counselling is a very effective therapy and can best be considered the first line of defence for those struggling with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, chronic health issues, addictions and most relationship issues. 

Contact us today to find out how to get rid of “stinkin thinkin” more accessible.