Finding Freedom from Ruminating Thoughts: A CBT Therapist in Austin Explains
As a CBT therapist in Austin, I frequently see clients grappling with rumination. This persistent cycle of repetitive thinking seems to touch nearly every area of their lives and is a common thread across all my specialties. When I introduce the concept of rumination in therapy sessions, I often find it helpful to explain it this way.
These cows do to their food what you are doing with your thoughts, feelings, problems, etc. They regurgitate and rechew. Want to get off that looping ride? A CBT therapist in Austin can help you find the exit.
What Exactly is Rumination?
Think about animals called ruminants – like cows, sheep, and deer. These even-toed, hoofed mammals have a unique digestive process where they regurgitate and re-chew their food. Now, you might be thinking, "Okay, interesting animal fact, but what does this have to do with me and finding a CBT therapist in Austin?"
Well, this biological process is where the psychological term "rumination" originates. We realized that people often do something similar with their thoughts. Mental rumination is essentially the regurgitation and re-chewing of thoughts, feelings, problems, upsetting events, or negative self-perceptions.
It's important to understand that mental rumination is normal, natural, and even adaptive... up to a certain point. It's often triggered by unresolved goals. We tend to ruminate when we have an unmet need or are facing uncertainty. However, rumination is problematic when it becomes chronic and less connected to actually achieving a goal.
How Rumination Can Become Avoidance
Interestingly, rumination often functions as a form of avoidance. Here are some common ways this can manifest:
Avoiding Uncertainty: Rumination can feel like planning, masking the underlying discomfort of the unknown. You might think, "I'm just trying to be prepared!" when you're actually stuck in a cycle of "what if" scenarios.
Avoiding Decisions: By endlessly considering all the options, rumination can prevent you from actually making a choice. The thought process becomes, "I'm just trying to be thorough!" but it leads to inaction.
Avoiding Needed Changes: Rumination can disguise itself as a search for the "perfect" solution, delaying necessary action. You might tell yourself, "I just want to make the right decision!" while avoiding the discomfort of change.
Avoiding Acceptance: When faced with something difficult, rumination can take the form of trying to understand why it happened, preventing you from moving forward. The internal monologue might be, "I just need to know why this happened!"
While planning, considering options, finding solutions, and understanding are generally positive things, they become detrimental when they devolve into endless, unproductive cycles of rumination.
How to Recognize Ruminative Thinking
Ruminative thinking has no end or exit. A CBT therapist in Austin can help you navigate out of the endless loop.
It can be tricky to distinguish between helpful problem-solving and unhelpful rumination. As a CBT therapist in Austin, I often encourage clients to ask themselves these questions:
Does the problem exist NOW in the EXTERNAL WORLD? Or are you trying to solve a problem that could happen but hasn't actually occurred yet? Thinking about hypothetical future problems is often a sign of rumination.
Are you moving towards a useful decision or plan? Or are you stuck in a repetitive loop that doesn't lead to any resolution? Getting stuck in the same thoughts without progress indicates rumination.
Remember, ruminative thinking often has no clear end or exit. A CBT therapist in Austin can provide strategies to help you step out of this endless loop.
Understanding the Habit of Rumination
Rumination is a behavior, which means that, ultimately, it's something you are choosing to do. Now, I understand if you're thinking, "Wait a minute! I don't consciously decide to ruminate – it just happens!" Let me clarify: rumination is a behavior that has become a habit.
Think about other habits:
Automatic and hard to control
Frequently performed
Triggered by a cue
A conditioned response
Resistant to change
Stopping at red lights is a great example. You approach an intersection, see the red light, and your foot automatically goes to the brake. You don't consciously weigh the pros and cons. It's a conditioned response.
Changing a mental habit like rumination requires intentional effort, just like learning to stop at green lights if the traffic laws suddenly changed. Initially, you'd have to be very conscious and deliberate, and you'd likely make mistakes along the way. Over time and with practice, the new behavior would become more automatic.
Simply knowing that rumination is unhelpful and wanting to stop isn't enough when it has become a deeply ingrained habit. It requires active behavior change.
What You Can Do When You Notice Rumination
Changing mental habits involves consciously choosing a different mental path. A CBT therapist in Austin can offer guidance and support in navigating this change. One helpful strategy is to:
Shift from Ruminative ("Why") to Concrete/Constructive ("How") Thinking
Ruminative thinking tends to focus on "why." It analyzes causes, meanings, and implications. It's often passive, abstract, and global.
Concrete thinking focuses on "how." It describes events and plays them out like a movie in your mind. It tends to be active, concrete, and specific.
Here are some examples to illustrate this shift:
Ruminative Thought: My life is pointless.
Notice how this is passive, abstract (what does "pointless" even mean?), and global (encompassing your entire life).
Concrete Thought: I am lonely. I want more friends.
This is more active (wanting to make friends), concrete (loneliness and friendship are understandable concepts), and specific (identifying the feeling and a potential solution).
Ruminative Thought: I am a terrible person.
Again, this is passive, abstract (what defines a "terrible person"?), and global (implying a fundamental flaw).
Concrete Thought: I didn’t follow through with my commitment, and my friend is going to be upset with me. I want to apologize and try to repair the relationship.
This is much more descriptive and specific, clearly outlining the problem and potential actions. We can't "un-terrible" someone, but we can address a broken commitment and work towards repairing a relationship. This isn't about unrealistic positive thinking; it's about a more accurate and actionable description of the situation.
Changing mental habits is like taking a different path than you’re used to. You have to make an active choice to go in a different direction. A CBT therapist in Austin can guide you through this change.
Taking the Next Step with a CBT Therapist in Austin
As a CBT therapist in Austin, I see how rumination impacts individuals across all my areas of specialization, including sleep issues (insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders, nightmares), OCD, PTSD, chronic pain, and Radically Open DBT.
If this post resonated with you and you identify with these patterns of thinking, and if you are looking for support from a CBT therapist in Austin, I would be happy to connect with you. Please fill out my contact form to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation. Let's explore how we can work together to help you break free from the cycle of rumination and move towards a more present and engaged life.