Ask Anne Chester™: Therapy Talks

The Catastrophe in Your Head: Breaking Free from Worst-Case Scenario Thinking

• Anne Chester, LCSW • Episode 5

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Stop, Drop And Rethink : A Guide To Catastrophizing Less

Ever find yourself spiraling into worst-case scenarios over relatively minor issues? That's catastrophizing, and it's stealing your mental peace.

In this enlightening episode, licensed clinical social worker Anne Chester unpacks her powerful "Stop, Drop, and Rethink" method for interrupting catastrophic thought patterns. With refreshing candor, Anne shares her own experience with catastrophizing—how paying quarterly taxes triggers irrational fears of "living in a box under a bridge" despite all evidence to the contrary. This relatable example sets the stage for understanding how our brains often betray us with extreme predictions that aren't grounded in reality.

The conversation delves into practical strategies anyone can implement immediately. Anne explains how developing bodily awareness helps catch catastrophic thoughts early, emphasizing the importance of labeling emotions and identifying underlying beliefs. She offers concrete techniques for reality-testing catastrophic predictions and redirecting your attention through simple activities like taking a walk or counting backward from 500. For those who find journaling helpful, Anne presents a structured approach that avoids rumination while building emotional intelligence—starting with observations of nature and moving through positive experiences, emotional awareness, and manageable goal-setting.

Ready to transform how you respond to uncertainty? Listen now and discover why catastrophizing doesn't have to be your default setting.

To learn more about Anne Chester™, LCSW Counseling visit:
https://www.AnneChester.com
Anne Chester™, LCSW Counseling
122 River Oaks Drive
Southlake, Texas 76092
817-939-7884

Introduction to Ask Ann Chester

Speaker 1

You're listening to Ask Ann Chester. Therapy Talks, the podcast where life's tough moments meet real talk, a little humor and the expertise of Ann Chester, licensed clinical social worker. Ann helps Texan women in the middle of life navigate anxiety, depression and trauma with compassion and a no-nonsense edge. If you've ever thought there's got to be a better way, you're in the right place. And good news, you can schedule a free 15-minute consultation with Ann because, as she says, it doesn't have to be that way. Now let's dive in.

Speaker 2

When your brain jumps to the worst case scenario, it's not just annoying, it's exhausting. Ann Chester shares her go-to method for interrupting catastrophic thinking and building a more grounded mindset. Welcome back everyone. I'm Sofia Yvette, co-host and producer. Back in the studio with Ann Chester, licensed clinical social worker. Ann, how are you today? I'm doing well. How are you, sofia? I'm also doing well. Now I am excited to get into this episode with you. Today we'll be talking about Stop, drop and Rethink a guide to catastrophizing less.

Speaker 3

I'm excited about this topic. Catastrophizing is just kind of a thing that most of us do, but it's also kind of just a fun thing to talk about, so I'm very excited about that.

Speaker 2

Amazing. Well, let's go ahead and start getting into this topic today. What exactly is catastrophizing and why do so many people fall into it?

Speaker 3

So catastrophizing is, in a very clinical sense, just a thinking error, a way that we think about things wrong. So you know, it's when we project into the future the worst case scenario. So, for example and this is my favorite catastrophizing line I have to go pay my quarterly taxes or my tax return, and I don't enjoy paying that. This is a real experience for me. I really hate paying taxes, but I value roads and bridges and every time I pay my taxes, I have the following catastrophizing thought oh no, I'm going to be broke and live in a box under a bridge.

Speaker 3

This never happened to me and I am diligent to save for my tax payments. But the catastrophizing is taking a situation that is uncomfortable. Maybe I feel out of control, or I just don't like what's going on, and maybe I'm having to think about oh, I'd rather go on this vacation than pay these taxes, but I do value my roads and bridges. And so when I'm in that moment writing that check or paying online for my property taxes, my brain goes to this extreme scenario. That is not likely to happen.

The Stop, Drop and Rethink Method

Speaker 2

Now let's get into some methods that can interrupt this pattern. How does the stop, drop and rethink method help interrupt that spiral?

Speaker 3

So in the example that I used, developing a self-awareness of my thinking pattern was really, really important, and I really try to work with clients on that. How do you develop self-awareness on the thinking pattern? For many years I didn't recognize that was where my brain was going. But a good friend, who's also a therapist, pointed that out to me one day that I would get really worried about finances when I would write that quarterly tax payment which we do four times a year, and I started paying attention to the thoughts but also to the feelings in my body. I would find that I didn't sleep as well that night, or that I was counting our budget more, or I was trying to find more coupons. Or one time I actually went and got all the sale ads for the grocery stores and went to three different stores to pay the least amount of money, not factoring in my gas costs going from store to store to store. So the stop, drop and rethink starts with oh, I have this anxiety emotion in my body. I kind of noticed this pattern. A therapist is really helpful with this. What is it that I'm believing about this situation? That's wrong. Sometimes it just comes out of our mouth, you know. Sometimes you see that in parenting of, if I don't teach this to my child now, they're not going to be able to do laundry when they're 35 and pay their own bills. We have 18 years with our kids in our home to raise them. They don't get stuff overnight. So our first step is to notice the feelings in our body and what's the thinking pattern, what's the thing that we believe about it. You can actually look up online negative cognitions. Those are wrong beliefs that we all tend to have and sometimes that'll help you figure out what is that thing that I am believing in this moment. So we're going to stop where I identify the feelings that we're having. We're going to see is this a pattern that consistently happens in these types of situations? And label the emotions and identify the belief. And label the emotions and identify the belief. So then, after we have done that, we may need some help with that. A lot of people do. I need help with that. Then we're going to go in and look at the reality of that. You know when I say to you it's never happened that I've lived in a box under a bridge never happened, and I am very diligent to save for my taxes and I have other savings and other emergency funds. So you know, for me that's not a likely scenario. So looking at the bigness of that thought. Another thing you know my kid didn't do well on their SAT. They will never get into college and never get a scholarship.

Building Self-Awareness for Anxiety Relief

Speaker 3

Look at the bigness of that thought, the reality, because the catastrophizing often stops the problem solving. That we can do because we approach out of just anxiety or defensiveness. So label the feeling, identify the thought. Take a journal, sit down or go to counseling or get a friend and think about what are ways to solve the problems or what is a different way to think of this or how likely is that to happen, and from there write down other options that you have and start with those options. Think about those. When the thought comes to your mind, identify it, label the feeling. Where do you feel that in your body? Look at your list of things that could be different. Then do some things to distract yourself Go chew gum, go count backwards from 500. Go take a walk, engage in your favorite hobby, do something to move the brain into doing something else other than being stuck in that anxiety.

Speaker 2

Got it Now. What role does self-awareness play in catching catastrophic thoughts early?

Speaker 3

going on around me. I live it in my whole entire body. It's that thing. I get up in the morning and realize I've got 50 million things to do and I get an instant headache not a migraine, but like just an instant stress headache. It's being aware of what's going on with you. So sometimes it's a matter of sitting down and noticing what are some positive and negative feelings that I've experienced in the last 24 hours, what are some neutral feelings and where did I feel that in my body? So that's the beginning of self-awareness.

Speaker 2

How do you help clients build confidence in their ability to challenge those thoughts?

Speaker 3

We practice, practice, practice in the office, journaling, making a list of those things. Now, when I talk about journaling, a lot of people take a deep dive into journaling and they have, like this free flow of thoughts and they go really deep. When I talk about journaling, we need to if we are prone to that. Some people do really well on narrative journaling. But if you're prone to the deep dive thoughts and not being able to come out of it, I suggest a little technique, that is, start with something really cool that you saw in nature. What did you see outside in the last 24 to 48 hours? It was really just beautiful, whether it's somebody's flowers in their yard or you observed your pets just something.

Speaker 3

Next thing I recommend is go into good things. That's not necessarily gratitude we all can make a gratitude journal. But what are good things? You know, I connected with a friend. I got to pet my dog today and it was just nice to have that connection. But it can also be grateful. I'm really grateful that my friend brought me a Coke or whatever that is. Another good thing could be the laundry's done. So, noticing good things Then, what are three positive feelings that you felt?

Speaker 3

Where did you feel them in your body. Then what are three positive feelings that you felt? Where did you feel them in your body? I have a patient that talks to me all the time that I just felt calm. I felt calm and I think sometimes we don't notice those good feelings. We notice happy and joyful, but we don't notice peaceful and calm and content. And then negative or neutral feelings. Negative is easy I felt really sad, I felt really angry. Neutral could be like boredom I felt bored driving to work today. So, having that awareness, get a feelings chart or a list of feelings with definitions, that is helpful.

Speaker 3

After that, we want to keep doing well, you know, so write that down. I got my kids on the bus on time today. We got out the door three minutes early and I want to continue having that routine. And then, what is something I'd like to work on? I'd like to be better at making sure I get all the dishes in the dishwasher right after they leave for school. I would like to be better with my time management. And here's a strategy I'm going to take to do that. That's a really easy journaling method. I'm going to be aware of my emotions and try to pay attention to my catastrophizing thoughts, and here are steps I'm going to take to do that. So you don't have to deep dive journal, it doesn't have to take you three hours and you don't have to be sucked into your emotions. Keep it simple.

Speaker 2

Well, anne, that was such a powerful and accessible strategy for us all to incorporate into our lives today. Thank you for giving us a way to rethink the way we think, and we'll catch you next time on Ask Anchester Therapy Talks.

Speaker 3

Thanks, sophia, and if you liked what you heard, be sure you like my podcast Also. I will try to put up my journaling strategy on my website in the coming future. Annchestercom.

Speaker 1

Thanks for tuning in to Ask Ann Chester Therapy Talks. If today's episode hit home and you live in Texas, you can schedule a free 15-minute consultation with Ann at annchestercom or just give her a call at 817-939-7884. Let's start the conversation, because it doesn't have to be that way. Until next time, take care.