Working Through Negative Emotions After Cancer: The Timer Technique

If you spend your whole day worrying, you need to put some limits on your brain. Believe it or not, we can actually tell our brain what to spend its time thinking about. I created this technique for patients about 15 years ago, and this has been lifechanging for many. Today, we will learn to allow bad feelings for some part of the day, and then tell our brain that it is done with fear, worrying, obsessing, what-if-ing for the next 24 hours. This is how you do it. Get a timer, your phone, the oven timer, whatever you have. Set aside time that you can do this without interruption – if you have a crazy life like me, one option is getting to work early and sitting in the car away from everyone! This time will make you a better parent, spouse, daughter or son, friend, and colleague, so don’t feel like you are being selfish taking this time every day. Set the timer for 15 minutes. Then really allow all...