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Basic beliefs

" Negative thoughts and beliefs can play an important role in maintaining pervasive (ie negative and devastating) emotions . Positive thoughts and realistic beliefs can strengthen positive self-image , increase satisfaction , develop curiosity and lead to stronger interpersonal relationships . The thoughts and emotions, considerations, predictions and decisions on which we base ourselves are so intertwined that they form the basis of our worldview, of others and of ourselves . These are mutually reinforcing experiences that can have both negative and positive coloring. Persistent negative thoughts can arouse or reinforce sadness, worry, grief, anger, guilt, shame or anguish. Negative feelings consolidate existing negative thoughts. You will learn to understand thoughts better and believe Basic yances that are problematic today and that originate in your traumatic past . By examining and testing these thoughts and beliefs, a space for positive change can arise. "Managing dissociation of traumatic origin (Boon, Steele & Van der Hart, 2014).

 

" Our most fundamental beliefs are based on the representations we have of ourselves, of others and of the world . They often condition the content that we give to concepts such as security, trust, belonging, value intrinsic, competence and vulnerability. They shape our needs and co-determine the measure of risk that we dare to take. " Managing the dissociation of traumatic origin (Boon, Steele & Van der Hart, 2014).

 

I have dissociative parties who have very different basic beliefs depending on who they have had to deal with in the past. Some people are suspicious of everyone and think everyone is bad and lying while other parties think everyone is good and if I am good they will be good to me. Some parties think that nobody loves me and never loved me and that I will always be alone while others think that everyone loves me and seek to be perfect, admired ... Some think that to depend on 'a man (to be in love) means to be his slave and to give himself completely because in this way I will be protected, others feel in danger as a couple because it means to die psychically and physically. Some think that telling my story will free me and save me, others that it will kill me and make me suffer. Having a friend means confiding and telling the least of my intimate thoughts which will make them love me and never leave me, I can't trust anyone because talking makes people run away. The society is bad, the sect is good and rightly or on the contrary the sect is bad, the society will save me and protect me ...

 

Several factors play a role in the development of basic beliefs :

  • The deep nature of our character (introverted / extroverted, intense life fully lived / superficial life, sensitive / insensitive ...)

  • The environment in which one grows up (the basic beliefs common to the family / to the sect transmitted to the child (error, failure is prohibited, one must be perfect))

  • The relational experiences we have had with others (betrayals, abandons ...)

 

"Traumatized people frequently have persistent negative beliefs. These are deeply ingrained beliefs that are stated in all or nothing terms, with no space for nuance . In these beliefs, the words always, never or no one are common. " Managing the dissociation of traumatic origin (Boon, Steele & Van der Hart, 2014).

 

For DID, the basic beliefs can be either beliefs to which all the dissociative parties adhere (They are deeply rooted: we will never be safe, we will always suffer, peace and well-being are impossible ...) or those are beliefs that are contradictory and our opinion on a subject changes suddenly and suddenly (according to the different beliefs of each party).

 

"Basic beliefs affect your ability to pause and reflect on experiences. However, it is precisely this reflection that is essential to increase feelings of well-being, self-confidence. and security . " Managing the dissociation of traumatic origin (Boon, Steele & Van der Hart, 2014).

 

" A healthy basic belief is based as much on the positive aspects of reality as on its negative aspects . Healthy basic beliefs are more flexible and more realistic , while the negative beliefs of the dissociative parts remain frozen in time of trauma ." Managing the dissociation of traumatic origin (Boon, Steele & Van der Hart, 2014).

 

Cognitive errors :

"By cognitive errors we mean persistent and irrational ways of thinking that keep the problem going. These cognitive errors are committed when the attention is too limited and is focused only on a part of the whole. If you make a judgment on a situation data, you don't take into account the complexity of the whole, so you don't draw the right conclusion. " Managing the dissociation of traumatic origin (Boon, Steele & Van der Hart, 2014).

 

This may for example focus only on the signs of danger or the signs of rage ...

 

Frequent cognitive errors :

  • All or nothing (white / black, good / bad, yes / no…), anything that is not perfect is a disaster.

  • Over-generalization (if I was told no once, I will always be told no)

  • The blinders (the positive does not exist, this positive change that I live is not real, it will not last).

  • Draw premature or arbitrary conclusions (studying is useless because I'm too stupid).

  • Reading thoughts (a friend looks at her watch it necessarily means that she wants to leave and is fed up, she doesn't love me, she doesn't listen to me, she doesn't believe me).

  • Catastrophic predictions (Being called to my boss's office means he's going to fire me).

  • Maximization (I forget a friend's birthday, she won't want any more links with me).

  • Leave your thoughts entirely dominated by emotions (I feel anxious about this man so he is bad).

  • Expression "you must / you should" (I am not advancing quickly enough in therapy, I have to force sharing, which leads to blockage and stress, guilt and rage).

 

How to modify them :

  • Explore your thoughts:

  1. Dialogue and foster the internal exchange of views and experiences

  2. Critically analyze

  3. Ask for help from an outside person (therapist, support person, etc.) to talk about it and be helped to take perspective.

  4. Before acting, write down what you think or feel so you can read it again later

  5. Wait, delay action to give yourself time to make a decision and react.

  • Correct and adapt your thinking and reactions in the here and now, orient yourself in the present.

 

 

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