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Concepts and Clichés
Welcome to Concepts and Clichés, a blog dedicated to exploring the real-world application of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in everyday life. This space offers practical insights and thought-provoking reflections tailored for both prospective and current clients and anyone else who is interested in building a deeper understanding of common concepts. Here, you’ll find accessible explanations of CBT principles, common misconceptions (“clichés”), and how these concepts can be used to navigate life’s challenges.
Breaking the Therapy Echo Chamber: Why Validation is not Enough.
When we enter therapy, we often arrive carrying the heavy burden of being misunderstood. We feel unheard by our partners, undervalued by our bosses, or invalidated by our families. Consequently, there is a natural, human yearning for a space that feels completely safe—a sanctuary where our version of reality is accepted without question. We want to be told that we are right, that our feelings are justified, and that the world has treated us unfairly. There is a distinct relie
Joanna Szczeskiewicz
11 min read
Chronic Stress: How Mental Patterns Shape Our Struggles.
Life is a continuous negotiation, often presenting demands that stretch our capacities to their absolute limits. When these pressures mount, and the prospect of falling short feels like an existential threat. Our brains, usually marvels of processing, can descend into a cognitive fog: concentration falters, memory malfunctions, and even minor decisions feel insurmountable. Our bodies bear the brunt: chronic fatigue, muscles locked in tension, digestive turmoil, and a comprom
Joanna Szczeskiewicz
9 min read
Why is Panic So Difficult to Deal With?
To say that panic attacks feel awful is an understatement. Panic attacks are awful AND confusing. A panic attack is full blown alarm vibrating through every fiber of one’s body that offers no information about the nature of the emergency that it supposedly signals. Worse, it doesn’t come with an off switch. Imagine a usual boring commute on a crowded bus. Frustrating in its dullness. Then, just when you are about to cross the street, you get startled by an unusually fast
Joanna Szczeskiewicz
5 min read
As Concepts Go, Positive Thinking is Rather Unhelpful
It is true: I don’t like the push towards positive thinking. I think that CBT is about realistic evaluation of what is happening in our lives and about learning how to manage our inner experiences in a way that makes sense AND feels real. It’s about cultivating a stance of open curiosity towards our world and fostering the willingness to tinker. Our growth is a process of tinkering. The trial and error. The ongoing negotiation between what we want, what is possible, wha
Joanna Szczeskiewicz
3 min read
What is Exposure? In Simple Terms. And with Examples...
Exposure is a CBT technique used to treat anxiety disorders that requires us to face triggers that cause anxiety, but are not dangerous. It is a very effective albeit occasionally uncomfortable treatment. Its effectiveness is attributed to habituation and learning. We can understand habituation by thinking of the times when a slightly paralyzing dip into a cold lake is followed by a refreshing swim as our body habituates to the temperature. Similarly, after a few weeks, a
Joanna Szczeskiewicz
7 min read
Of Triggers, Dangers and Things of Importance.
Google dictionary defines trigger as “an event or circumstance that is the cause of a particular action, process, or situation”. Danger is defined as “the possibility of suffering harm or injury”. A trigger is a stimulus that produces an emotional response that is usually painful and feels to be beyond the control of the person who experiences it. Everything can be a trigger. A painful memory that might have been activated when watching a movie at a theater. The darkness
Joanna Szczeskiewicz
3 min read
Thinking Shortcuts are Understandable. They Just Don't Always Serve Us Right.
A lot of our mind work occurs at a non-conscious level. We can be propelled into action or aware of the emotions that we may feel but not always fully aware of the thoughts inside of us. In fact, our thoughts may be more private and more painful to identify than our emotions. We may remember that an interaction with a relative made us sad or angry but not what really was unfolding in our minds. In day-to-day interactions, we do not have the time to examine our thought proces
Joanna Szczeskiewicz
8 min read
Compassion is Not the Same as Help.
Have you ever stayed up all night worrying about the wellbeing of someone you care about? You might have just learnt about this person’s difficulties over the phone or, worse, learnt that they have been admitted to a hospital following a car accident. Such reactions are normal. Worrying is often an expression of caring, after all even though our hearts go to victims of all kinds of accidents, we are much more likely to lose sleep over the wellbeing of those we have close em
Joanna Szczeskiewicz
3 min read
From Pavlov's Dogs to Bad Vibes.
Have you ever felt “bad energy”? You might believe that some people create bad vibes and feel particularly uncomfortable with them. Some places give you chills. It feels as if you were absorbing something bad, something that invades your mind and body and that should simply not be there. What if the explanation of your experiences had more to do with classical conditioning than with exposure to bad energy? During the late nineteen century, a Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavl
Joanna Szczeskiewicz
4 min read
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