Tea forms?

[maeflowers]

What are they? I have seen a lot of talk on here about them but I can't find info about exactly what they are on Google or anything... and my therapist hasn't heard of them either but I'm not doing CBT.

[Robbed]

I am not exactly sure what 'TEA' stands for. But, TEA forms also go under the name 'ABC forms'. And I am sure that there are other names as well. Anyway, TEA forms are simply a CBT tool used to track negative thoughts. When you have a negative thought that makes you feel bad, you write it down on the form. You also write down how you feel. And then you have a look at the thought in order to assess whether it is a realistic thought and/or whether your reaction to it is rational. If NOT (and most of the time it WON'T be realistic OR rational), then you come up with an alternate, replacement thought that is more realistic and rational. And when you experience the negative thought again, you use your new, alternate thought to counteract it. With time, the alternate thoughts become your new, established thoughts.

On the other hand, TEA forms can be bad in certain situations. MANY therapists wrongly believe that ALL feelings of depression and anxiety (including panic) MUST have been caused by negative thoughts. There is, according to these folks, no such thing as out-of-the-blue anxiety/panic. Of course, these folks probably have never had to deal with depression and/or anxiety as a disorder. So they don't know any better. You, on the other hand, probably DO. In any case, the problem with TEA forms in this situation is that you stress yourself out fruitlessly searching for negative thoughts that could have precipitated your bad feelings. And you are going to either (1) blame entirely innocent thoughts that you had at the time, and/or (2) feel like your condition must be MUCH more serious than it is, since bad feelings came without thoughts. Also, TEA forms should NEVER be used with obsessive thoughts. So if you are going to use TEA forms, know when they are appropriate. Otherwise, acceptance methods will give better results.