***This content comes from the Joint Pain Programme Journal by Nuffield Health. As a Rehab Specialist running this program, I’m excited to share these helpful insights with you all.
Within this programme, we will be looking at different aspects of your emotional wellbeing.
We will be using a model that looks at how your thoughts, emotions, physical feelings, and behaviours are connected and related to what is going on around you.
This model can help you make sense of overwhelming problems by breaking them down into smaller parts. Problems are broken down into ‘4 Corners of Me’:
Understanding My Own Connections
What are your current thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and physical feelings about starting this program?
Thoughts – What thoughts come into your mind about life now? What are you saying to yourself?
Emotions – What emotions or moods do you experience when you think about life now?
Behaviors – Has your behavior changed due to joint pain? If so, what’s different?
Physical feelings/symptoms – What physical symptoms are most obvious when you think about starting this program? Think about how these four areas interact:
• How does the way you think affect how you feel emotionally?
• How does the way you behave affect your physical feelings?
• How does your emotion impact your behavior?
• How do your physical symptoms affect your mood? Understanding these connections is a great way to help identify any unhelpful cycles, which you can work on with your Rehabilitation Specialist using the exercises within this journal.
Your Space to Reflect
📍 Starting Point
- How do your thoughts, emotions, physical feelings, and behaviors connect?
- What patterns have you noticed between these four areas?
🤔 Looking Deeper
- When have you noticed one 'corner' positively or negatively affecting the others?
- How do your thoughts influence your physical symptoms?
💡 Exploring Possibilities
- Which 'corner' could you focus on to create positive change?
- What helpful patterns could you strengthen?
🔄 New Perspectives
- How might understanding these connections change your approach to self-care?
- What would a positive cycle across all four corners look like for you?
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