We’ve all heard about the placebo effect, where the positive outcomes of a treatment are more due to the patient’s belief that the treatment will work than to the actual treatment itself. For example, a patient believes taking a pill will improve their energy, not knowing that the pill is a sugar pill. But have you heard about the opposite, the nocebo effect? The nocebo effect occurs when we expect that a treatment will produce adverse effects.
I bring you this tidbit of trivia because it highlights something important (which many of us forget, or do not think about): our mindset as we approach various situations in life matters. If I go into a difficult conversation with my spouse expecting it to be a fight, I am already slinging my metaphorical boxing gloves over my shoulder. If, however, I approach the same difficult conversation with a mind hoping to have a good conversation about what each of us thought went wrong and how we can work together to fix it, then a fight is less likely to happen.
Of course, this is not a magical solution. Unfortunately, things do not always turn out well simply because we expect them to. The placebo and nocebo effects simply remind us that our expectations can have an impact on the outcome, for better or for worse.
The way I’d like to advocate attempting a positive mindset here is demonstrated well by the interaction between small children and their parents: when a child says, “I can’t do it!” the usual response from their parent is, “I know you can. Just give it a try.” This positive mindset usually provides the child with enough encouragement and confidence to work on the task before him and triumph. It puts us in a better frame of mind. Which is to think of a solution to the problem before us (as in the example of the difficult conversation above).
I encourage you to give it a try this week. Pick a small thing that you usually feel negative about. See if you can shift your mindset to be more positive regarding its outcome. It might take several tries, but I’m confident you’ll find it gets easier as you go.
About Ann-Marie Wingerter:
Ann-Marie is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Healthy Minds Therapy. She earned her Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Franciscan University of Steubenville. With a concentration in Crisis Intervention and Trauma Counseling. Ann-Marie takes an integrative and client-centered approach to therapy, drawing from cognitive behavioral (CBT) and dialectical behavioral (DBT) techniques to support her clients. She enjoys working with individuals navigating life transitions, anxiety, depression, interpersonal challenges, behavioral concerns, trauma, and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Learn more about Ann-Marie HERE!