Sticks and Stones
Sticks and Stones
As a Solution Focused therapist, I have lots of tools in my toolkit, by tools I mean techniques and resources that underpin my work with people. One of those tools is helping people to understand the impact of their own words.
You may remember the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Scientific studies show that positive and negative words can have a significant impact on the outcome of our lives.
One word I hear often is, “BUT”. “I’d love to become a success, BUT I don’t know how to get there.” Now, if we change that to, “I don’t know how to get there yet, BUT I will become a success”, we can see how the subconscious could begin to find ways that you will become a success.
Another powerful pair of words are should and shouldn’t, when you say, “I should be more positive, BUT, whatever you say next stops change taking place. When you say, “I shouldn’t keep putting things off, AND.” Whatever you say next encourages positive change to take place.
Negative words, whether spoken, heard, or thought, can contribute to long-term anxiety, just one single negative word can increase the activity in our amygdala which is the fear centre of the brain, this will release stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters, which in turn interrupts our brains' functioning. So, if holding negative thoughts in our mind is enough to induce stress and anxiety hormones, we must ask ourselves, what effect will positive thoughts have?
Negative words activate our fight-or-flight response, which slows cognitive function. Research tells us a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.
As a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist, I teach people about the three Ps, Positive thinking, Positive Interaction and Positive action, all of which encourage a steady flow of positive words. Research also tells us that positive words encourage cognitive brain function, they actually shape your mind, alleviate stress and improve your general well-being.
We have over seventy thousand thoughts every day come into our heads, therefore, it's no surprise that if you use positive words and language more often, your thought patterns will change for better. Positive thinking changes the chemistry of the brain affecting genetic markers and can change brain cells. This change of genetic traits is a catalyst for our well-being, it’s also associated with an increase in cells that boost your immune system, a double whammy, and that has to be a great feeling.