(((Onward2wards))),

I have been trying to work on this myself. And I have to see where my cognitive distortions are sometimes. And I hear you, it can be hard to stop past negetive behaviors. I struggle with PTSD and if I am around certain people that are disfunctional in some way, I can fall back into an old pattern of behavior. I have to catch myself as much as I can. I have to say that PC has helped me tremendously with that. When I get triggered now I really think about why and not just that I am triggered. It has amazed me how I had auto responses to things and I didn't really realize it. I notice this with my husband and family, but now I am getting MUCH better at stopping, observing and thinking. I see a lot more than I used to. It took a while to be able to do this.

Onward, like anything else, it really takes practice and it IS work. I have noticed that I am improving but it isn't easy, my family has NOT changed their disfunctional behavior patterns. But I find it helps me when I just allow myself to "observe" them and also pay attention to see if I have picked up their behavior patterns without realizing it.

Be patient with yourself and keep working at it. The brain can be slow to get to that point where it becomes automatic.

Open Eyes