Often, we are told to simply “not think about” or to engage in “thought stoppage” techniques in order to push away worry, stress, insecure, or other troubling thoughts; the amount of energy this takes is tremendous and the return on the investment of our energy doing this is often minimal at best.  For example tell a friend to “NOT think of a white elephant” and then ask how successful they were at “not thinking” about it and you will probably be told that it was ALL they could think about!  Instead, next time a distressing thought comes to mind, try simply noticing it and practice letting go, acknowledge, notice, let go….  Doing this takes less energy and is a more effective way to manage unwanted thoughts. Envision the thought as a cloud just drifting by or a wave hitting the shore and then retreating.  For more information about acceptance based approaches to managing anxiety call us at 631-427-6669.