Helping our patients with better “internal communication”

When a feeling of “stress” arise, what are the patterns/themes of our patient’s thoughts?

What do they say inside their head, or what are the questions they often ask internally?

As their Doctors, have we noticed our own particular patterns?

Are they helpful or are they not?

Certain patterns lead to poorer outcomes. Certain patterns lead to better outcomes.

If we want to change the outcomes, we may have to change the patterns.

Part of counseling is to help our patients change those patterns.

So what are those possible patterns/internal communication styles that may not be helpful for some folks within their context?

1. Self critical styles vs self reflective styles. 

 
2. In CBT, they may also refer to self negatives  self talk vs more positive self talk. 

 
3. Some may prefer helpful vs not helpful inner dialogue rather than negative vs positive. There are nuances to that.

4. Some folks are great with outer communication but when it comes to internal communication, they may not be so good and have less “tact” due to less awareness of their inner headspace.

5. Some may have more questions like “Why are you doing this to me?”, “Why are you making me feel this way?” or “Why me?” vs “What’s good about this problem?”

I wonder if you can think of a few more.