GUTTED OVER COELIAC
GUTTED OVER COELIAC
SESSION ONE
Thank you for taking part in session one of ‘GUTTED OVER COELIAC’. Please see below for the downloads links to the ‘Alternate Thought Log ‘and ‘Addressing Rumination Log’ and ‘ABC’ Model.
Addressing Psychological Wellbeing
for Adults with Coeliac Disease
The start of the session allowed space for reflection of being in a group setting, and on expectations and hopes for the programme.
During the session we looked at the following areas (see below) and introduced specific models and techniques to support you with some of the psychological impacts of living with coeliac disease.
What could be continued from today to embed the learning and practice skills (if this feels like a lot, the tasks could be separated, an example is below):
Week 1 (between groups)
•Alternate Thought Log
•Addressing Rumination Log
•Consider any ABCs or Hot Cross Buns (HCB) you experience
Week 2 (between groups)
•Practice being assertive and reflect on the outcome (ABC/HCB)
•Consider any of your own safety behaviours or TRAPs
•Reading below on Acceptance and Goals
Acceptance
SOME FURTHER READING…
With regards to the journey, we know it is not a matter of 'just accepting' and want to break this down further. Another way of reflecting on this concept and living in spite of the difficulties that come with having Coeliac disease could be this...
Imagine you are on a long road trip and your friends stop at a services and buy hot food that smells amazing, but you cannot eat and the only foods that were gluten free were either crisps or chocolate, no meal options. If you were to get the crisps but start having negative thoughts about this causing you to feel low, what would that look like in terms of the hot cross bun model? What impact would this have on your journey?
IN THE FACE OF DIFFICULTIES
On the other hand, if you were to think 'I wish I brought some food I like with me, I'll do that next time, I can just have the crisps for now and eat a little bit later', what would this look like on the hot cross bun model and what impact would this have on the journey?
You probably noticed that in both responses, you eat the crisps and there is no other food available for you, but there is a difference in outcome. Even though living with coeliac disease can be limiting and can require a level of preparation, our perspectives and responses in the face of such scenarios can impact our overall experience. By altering your stance, you may feel more able to bring focus to the values here, such as spending quality time with friends and travelling to a new place together. By bringing acceptance in, it feels more possible to actively live more meaningfully and be in the present. This can still occur whilst validating the disappointment felt.
If this is of interest to you, take some time to research the stages of 'radical acceptance' and think about how these may applied to your own experiences. In the next session, we will have some space for everyone to discuss this as a group if helpful.
GOAL SETTING
It may be helpful for you to set a specific goal to use the techniques to help you with throughout the programme. Having coeliac disease may have stopped you or restricted you from doing something meaningful for example eating out to celebrate a friend's birthday or letting someone else cook for you. It is understandable there are concerns around trusting others due to cross contamination risk but this is where the communication we discussed in session 1 can come in handy and therefore mean you can still live according to your values!
USEFUL TIP !
Remember when setting goals to make them SMART and to keep them positive. This helps you to be clear about what you will actually do and then it’s easier to know if you have achieved it.
Specific
This is about being as precise as possible about what you want to achieve.
Measurable
This is about setting goals that you can measure so that you know when you have achieved them.
Achievable
It’s much better to set a series of small goals that you can achieve and allow them to accumulate into a larger goal over time.
Relevant
This is about checking that the goal really reflects what is important to you and your underlying values. This supports your sense of living meaningfully.
Timely
This is about being clear when you will complete or make progress with your goal.
Set positive goals, not negative goals!
One final thing to remember is the importance of setting positive, not negative goals. Define what you want to do, not what you don’t want to do. Below are some example of values and goals.
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Attend an exercise class on Friday evening
Try to walk for at least 30mins everyday
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Give my partner a hug when I next see them
Book cinema tickets for tomorrow
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Remind myself that nobody’s perfect
Remain calm when someone says something that upsets me
It is useful to set both long-term goals and smaller sub-goals but remember to keep them ‘SMART’ because if you set yourself goals that are unclear or unattainable, you will tend to feel like you are failing. You will end up thinking that you are not getting anywhere, and this can make you feel stressed, anxious, or depressed. Use your goals from last session’s homework.
It is ok to revise your expectations too. You may need to take several smaller steps to achieve each sub-goal. Keeping a written record of your goals may help you to monitor your progress.
ADDRESSING
BARRIERS TO GOALS
Setting your goals according to your values helps you continue in moving forward as well as feel you are living a meaningful life. However, it is common to be faced with barriers and hurdles that we need to overcome to reach our aims. It is helpful to think about these in advance:
To work on eliminating completely
So it does not impact motivation as much when it occurs due to reduced surprise
Think about your goals in the previous task, can you think of any barriers to these?
If there are people that can help with your goals, include them and have set tasks for them. Human beings are naturally social so the more support we feel, or watchful eyes we have, the more likely we are to continue with goals and not give up.