Hopefully, you will use critical thinking, or logic, to solve problems and make choices for the rest of your life.
But remember, using your feelings as a guide isn't always a bad thing. There will always be situations where your feelings will help you make logical decisions and solve problems. Perhaps you are passionate about a cause or you just have a bad feeling about something. Critical Thinking will help you decide if your feelings are justified (you want to start an animal shelter or say "no" to going to an event) or if they are harmful (you don't want to go to school anymore because the pressure is too much). Critical thinking skills don't just help you build up those brain muscles to help you navigate anxiety and your emotions, they also help you solve real life problems with other people and help you make good choices. But how do you solve those kind of problems? I'm glad you asked. Problem Solving Skills are social emotional. As much as we prefer a good old engineering or STEAM related problem like "how do you make cookies without eggs?" or "how do we store 1 million linear feet of legos?" Life is more complicated. Life is full of people and choices and feelings, so problem solving skills are important. |
Getting to a place where you're willing to Stop and Think takes practice. You'll need Strategies to get you there. You can work through our workbook and use our weekly plans or you can read more by clicking on Strategies.
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Change Your Perspective
Most importantly, for anxiety, critical thinking is a life hack. It can help you change your perspective. The hardest thing with anxiety is breaking those negative thoughts patterns and finding a different way of looking at situations. Go to Adventures to learn more about how to change your perspective. Creative Thinking
Also, there's no rules about how you solve problems. You need to explore Creative Thinking skills, because the more creative you are in solving problems, the better off you'll be in the long-term. Finding creative solutions is innovation. And innovation is important. Click on the Creative Thinking Skills box to learn more. Making Good Decisions
Effective problem-solving first and foremost involves choices. Choices are decisions. And decision making is another social emotional skill. To make good decisions, you have to have Self-Control. Click on the box to read more. Use our process
Problem solving is a step-by-step process that can help you address social and emotional challenges: 1. Define the problem by identifying specific social situations and recognizing personal Feelings, Actions and Thoughts associated with them. These are your Triggers. 2. Generate possible solutions by brainstorming different approaches and considering the pros and cons of each solution to broaden your perspective and encourage creative thinking. 3. Evaluate and select the best outcome by assessing each solution and making an informed decision. Your solution should include a strategy to deal with your discomfort. 4. For each outcome, decide what thoughts, actions, and feelings you will need to address. It should be emotional regulation, reframing or coping skills. 4. Create a Plan and organize the necessary steps and taking action confidently. 5. Reflect on the outcome of the chosen solution by assessing the things that worked and the things that didn't work. 6. Change the way you react next time by working on your social emotional skills. It's tough to come face to face with a problem and actually follow through on finding a solution. But avoiding conflict is the also the worst. Because the problem is still there, maybe getting bigger, and you'll eventually have to face it. If you struggle with Coping, or dealing with it (if you have anxiety then you struggle), you have a hard time with the very first step. It's hard to face a problem head-on when you're overwhelmed with fear. Learn more about Positive Coping Strategies by clicking on the box. After learning Positive Coping, you need to check in on you ability to resolve conflict. Even with Critical Thinking Skills, knowing how to resolve conflict is important. Click on Conflict Resolution to learn more. Sometimes we need help with our words when we're overcome with emotions. Communication can help you learn more about effective ways to talk it out. Click on the box to learn more. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is Critical Thinking. It's connecting logic to feelings. Learn more Here. |