A Quieter Mind: Techniques for Managing Intrusive Thoughts

By Kat Green

We’re all affected by the occasional scary, unusual, or bizarre thought. But for many of us, we feel that these intrusive thoughts can be a drag on our everyday lives. What’s the deal with these thoughts, and what can we do about them?

Those are the questions that Licensed Psychologist Kat Green addresses in A Quieter Mind: Techniques for Managing Intrusive Thoughts, an audio course from Scribd Coach. In the course, Green appraises the power intrusive thoughts can hold over us, why these thoughts can be so difficult to ignore, and new approaches for managing intrusive thoughts. She also shares exercises along the way so you can begin putting what you’ve learned into practice.

Whether you’re curious about the phenomenon of intrusive thoughts or want to better manage your own, you’ll find something valuable in A Quieter Mind.

(Note: The information in this course is not intended to be used as a substitute for therapy or evaluation by a mental health professional and is not medical advice.)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scribd Coach
• Release date: Apr 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781094433714

Kat Green

Kat Green is a board-certified, licensed psychologist with dual specializations in OCD and anxiety disorders for kids, teens, and young adults, as well as ADHD and other behavior concerns in younger kids. She holds a PhD in clinical psychology from Brigham Young University, and has done a two year post-doctoral fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, specializing in OCD, anxiety, and ADHD. For more content from Kat Green, visit TherapyNutshell.com

Book preview

A Quieter Mind

A QUIETER MIND

Techniques for Managing Intrusive Thoughts

KAT GREEN

SCRIBD COACH

Copyright © 2022 by Kat Green

All rights reserved

ISBN: 9781094433714

First e-book edition: April 2022

Scribd, Inc.

San Francisco, California

Scribd.com

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About Scribd Coach

This ebook is brought to you by Scribd Coach, a new imprint from Scribd dedicated to short-form, inclusive, and insightful personal and professional growth courses written by recognized experts.

Each Scribd Coach course is available in audiobook format or as an ebook transcribed from the audio course — like the book you’re about to read. If you’re interested in the audio edition of this course, or if you’d like to read more personal growth content from Scribd Coach, check out the Scribd Coach imprint page. 

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Introduction

Hello everyone! I’m Kat Green, and this is A Quieter Mind: Techniques for Managing Intrusive Thoughts, a course from Scribd. Thank you for joining me. Let’s begin.

Have you ever had a scary, unusual, or bizarre thought get stuck in your head? Maybe at first it only showed up occasionally, but then keeps coming back until you can no longer imagine yourself not having it? Has one thought driven you mad, as you tried everything to get rid of it? Have you felt like your thoughts are controlling you and not vice versa? If you silently nodded hearing any of these questions, you’re in the right place.

In this course, we’ll be discussing what you can do to take control of your intrusive thoughts that get in the way of your daily life. But how do you even begin to define intrusive thoughts? This is a complex issue that many people suffer from. It entails a broad range of common themes, which I’ll break down for you in a minute.

Now, to define intrusive thoughts, one could say that they are unwanted words, phrases, images, or even sequences of images or mental movie clips that come to your mind, and cause a lot of discomfort or distress and which you just can’t shake. These types of thoughts often feel like they just invade your mind, distract you from your day-to-day tasks, and urge you to do, say, or avoid things that you didn’t used to.

Because of that, I believe the term intrusive is quite appropriate here, rather than, for example, if we were to call these thoughts obsessive. The idea of intrusion accurately captures the unwelcome nature of these thoughts and a person’s perceived lack of control over these thoughts. These thoughts intrude on your life and try to distract you from the important things that matter to you the most by occupying your mind for extended periods of time.

It is interesting that intrusive thoughts, by nature, are most likely to be at odds with your core