First post…
Hi I'm Kelly and this is my first blog. Believe me, just getting this going is an achievement in itself, as I am incredibly untechnical but here we are. I wanted to create this as my passion is helping people to stop worrying.
As a former worrier myself I remember how debilitating worry was in my life the anxiety and stress I felt and all the opportunities I missed out on because I didn't trust myself to handle them. I had low self-esteem and major imposter syndrome, and my worry and negative thinking led me to make bad choices, impacted my relationships and limited my potential.
In 2012 a series of pretty big events were happening for me, culminating in some major life changes. By 2015, I had experienced bereavement, loss, divorce, job changes, retraining, and moving with my children to a brand new part of the UK. I can honestly say 2015 was one of the worst years of my life. I ended it an anxious, depressed, unemployed, single parent with a house needing renovating, no DIY skills and wondering how I had ended up like this in my late 40s.
Fast forward 11 years and I have a successful private practise as a therapist, I've just completed my master’s degree to qualify as coaching psychologist at 59 years old, the house is still far from the show home I envisioned, but we're getting there. I have my family, good friends. I travel when I can and I'm happy.
I can honestly say I put this change firmly down to when I stopped worrying, because it was then that I started doing things and blasting through what was blocking my progress, and if I'm honest that was me. It was my worrying about all the bad things that could happen; being judged, failing, looking stupid, being found out, that stopped me. My negativity and lack of belief in myself always held me back, kept me tied to the past and made me limit myself.
Once I recognised this and adjusted the way I thought about and approached things, everything changed. So today is the first day of the Worry Revolution. Worry chains us to the past, to negativity, to anxiety, to feeling stuck, but it's become so normalised people often don't question it. I used to think that I should worry; that if I didn't it meant I didn't care, but I was wrong. I care just as much, I take things seriously, I get things done. I just don't chain myself to worry to do it.
So I wanted to start a blog that I've called the Worry Revolution because I feel we have to challenge the beliefs that we have about worry, about negative thinking, about fear of failure, and of change, all these things that stop us being the person we want to be.
In this blog I hope to talk about worry and why we do it; look at ways of reducing worry and negative thinking; explore how we can improve our well-being and enjoy life; and hear from others about their stories and discovering what's helped them be happier and build a supportive community together. I am navigating my way through this new experience and hope, if anyone is reading this, that you will bear with me while I learn.
Thank you so much for reading this and I hope you will join me in the worry revolution.
As this blog begins I would also like to thank the two individuals who trained me in CBT and MCT, Prof. Adrian Wells who developed metacognitive theory and therapy, and Prof. Marcantonio Spada who trained me in CBT and introduced me to MCT.
