9 Reasons You May Need ANT Therapy!

In the book “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life” Dr. Amen discusses ANT therapy. No! Not the kind at picnics! ANT stands for “Automatic Negative Thinking“.

ANT Therapy is about turning your negatives into positives.

Let me explain what the ANT Species are which you’ll find in Dr. Amen’s book.

1. Always” thinking: thinking in words like always, never, no-one, every-one, every-time, everything.
2. Focusing on the negative: only seeing the bad in a situation.
3. Fortune telling: predicting the worst possible outcome to a situation.
4. Mind reading: believing that you know what another person is thinking, even though they haven’t told you.
5. Thinking with your feelings: believing negative feelings without ever questioning them.
6. Guilt beatings: thinking in words like “should, must, ought or have to.”
7. Labeling: attaching a negative label to yourself or to someone else.
8. Personalization: innocuous events are taken to have personal meaning.
9. Blame: blaming someone else for your own problems.

Check out Dr. Amen’s video full of information on brain health below:

Love this video as he talks about ongoing and common excuses of why people can’t eat healthy or exercise.

Of course, he also goes into detail about the ANTs.

If you find you are experiencing ANT symptoms, it might be helpful for you to print this list out and keep it with you.

Dr. Amen says whenever you notice an ANT entering your mind, train yourself to recognize it and write it down.

When you write down automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) and talk back to them, you begin to take away their power and gain control over your moods.

He says you can redirect your thinking!