Applying the TIC TOC Technique

[Lab 6- April 26: Enabling occupation through thoughts and feelings: Cognitive approaches]

One of the cognitive strategies I learned about in today's lab was the TIC TOC technique. Let's see how it can be used to dissect a recent emotionally stressful situation of mine:

Situation	Task-Interfering Cognitions (TIC)	Thought Distortions	Task-Oriented Cognitions (TOC)
I arranged a get-together with some floor-mates on a weekend and found out two days before that those who had originally committed to it could not make it due to accidentally double-booking their schedule or sudden more important priorities.	People do not Value their Friendship with Me. People are Not Trustworthy.	·   All or nothing thinking—the mindset that if they can’t commit to this one event, they are not good friends ·   Overgeneralization—the emotional distress and negative interpretation bleeds into other issues happening simultaneously ·   Minimizing—forgetting about the times when floor-mates have been followed through with commitments and been supportive of self.	·      It is not because they do not value our friendship, but because they have too busy and accidents happen. ·      They tried to tell you as soon as possible, when they found out about that something else came up making them unavailable to attend the get-together. ·      I will enjoy my time with those who are still going to be there.

RESOURCE to smile about:
Often times when I get stressed my TICs pop up and it doesn't help my situation. Finding my TOCs can be difficult in the moment and it's much easier to dwell on our TICs.

This lab reminded me of something that my little sister shared with me a while ago. It's a bit of everyday positive psychology: Things to Be Happy About (based on 14,000 Things to be Happy About by Barbara Ann Kipfer). Whenever I encounter a bad situation in my life, I do tend to use the "think positive" or "count your blessings" strategy. It may not be problem-specific enough to have any immediate result to help the issue, but I feel like it helps me to practice having a positive attitude towards stressful events. Although the things that Kipfer points out aren't exactly TOCs that help with all contexts, she sure does a good job of point out the little things in life that we can focus on to orient our cognitions towards the positive.  Makes me stand by my glass half-full personality and believe that no matter what situation, we can at least think of one TOC to begin enabling our clients.

On a more serious note, CAMH has published a document called "Cognitive Behavioural Therapy -An Information Guide" written by Dr. Rector, describing what CBT is in layman terms to demystify what this complex therapeutic approach entails. A great educational resource for those considering CBT, family and friends who want to increase their understanding of CBT and of course OTs, to share with clients.