Worry is like a rocking chair...

Worry is like a rocking chair; it gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere. 

Everyone has worries and worrying is not always a bad thing. It can help us plan and take action to overcome obstacles and difficulties. However, persistent rumination, worrying about things that may never happen or even worrying about worrying can have a detrimental effect on our physical and mental health. 

The Worry Tree is a tool adapted from Butler and Hope’s (1995) approach to worry and anxiety. Although it is simple, tools such as the Worry Tree can help you understand if your worries are real or hypothetical and guide you to problem solve.

The first step in the worry tree is to notice that worry is happening. Then you can name the worry and understand what it is about. The next step is to identify whether this is a real event worry about which something can be done, or whether the worry concerns a hypothetical future event about where it is simply impossible to act.

If there is something you can do about your worry, you then need to decide if you can take immediate action or if action is needed later. If you need to act in the future, you make specific plans before the worry is set aside so that you can focus on other things.  

If the worry is hypothetical and action is not possible, you simply let the worry go and recognise that it is not helpful. You can then focus your attention on something that will be helpful to you.