This is part 3 of a four-part series on how to root out the pattern called “learned helplessness” from our life and relationships. In Part 1 we explored what learned helplessness is, and in Part 2 we used a marriage example to examine what it might look like in our lives. This week and next, we share the six steps to kicking it to the curb in any part of life.
If you missed part 1 and part 2 of this series, you’re going to want to tap the brakes on this part 3, and read those two first. We’re tackling learned helplessness – what we do in response to the false belief that there’s nothing we can do to improve our circumstances (our marriage, our weight, our toxic situation at work, etc.) even when improvements are available. As researchers have pointed out, the pattern can be reversed by recognizing that we are never truly helpless.
Whether things are tough in marriage, health, work, addictions, parenting, or anything else, there are always things we can control.
Of course, a short blog series can’t address every nuance of making the mental switch toward what counselors call “self-agency.” But to get us started, here are the first two of six steps we can take today to pull ourselves out of a passive or helpless mindset and into an active place of resilience and taking more control (in a good way) in our life and relationships. Next week we will cover the last four steps.
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