ABSTRACT
Gallery of encouragers and discouragers Some people criticise and discourage. Others encourage, praise and support. When the criticism and praise come from significant people in your life, and particularly people in your childhood, they can leave a residue in your mind in the form of self-talk. Self-talk refers to what you say to yourself inside your head. Negative self-talk is so powerful it can blight a person’s will, determination, motivation, capacity to learn and self-esteem. It can be so damning that it is far worse than how you would ever talk to another person, e.g. ‘You are so stupid’, ‘You are useless’, ‘You never get anything right’. On the other hand, self-talk can be encouraging: ‘Never mind, that didn’t work, but I know you’ll get there if you just keep going with this.’ Encouraging self-talk is a vital factor in a person’s capacity to enjoy a successful and deeply satisfying life. This exercise is designed to heighten the participant’s awareness of their self-talk, because this is a key first step towards positive change in this important area of psychological health.
