Overcoming Negative Thoughts

In this activity, you’ll answer questions that you can use in real life to increase hope and control and feel better.

Sometimes we can feel trapped by negative thoughts. Learning to replace these with more hopeful thoughts is a skill you will learn in this activity. As you practice doing this in real life, your negative thoughts will start to have less power over you.

In this activity, you will answer 4 questions that will help you replace negative thoughts with more hopeful ones. After practicing here, you can use these same questions in your daily life to feel more in control of your thoughts and actions.

In this activity, you will go through 4 questions to explore a thought you struggle with. As you answer the questions, try to remember them so you can practice in real life after you leave the site. With practice, you can gain greater control over your thoughts and actions, increase hope, and reduce feeling stuck.

  1. What negative thought are you struggling with?

  2. Where does this negative thought come from?

    Negative thoughts usually come from our past experiences. What happened in your life that makes you believe this thought?

  3. If your friend was dealing with the same negative thought, what would you say to help them feel more hopeful?

    Then, imagine your friend telling you this more hopeful thought.

  4. What do you need to say or do so you can truly believe the more hopeful thought?

    What do you need to let go of so you can feel better? What do you need to say to convince yourself or focus on the positive?

What Others Answered: