How to Develop a Positive Reappraisal When Stressed Out

Image by Jorm S on Adobe Stock.

Mindfulness is, according to Eric Garland, an “inherent mental capacity of the human organism, although persons differ in their ability and willingness to actualize this capacity.”

In stressful situations, it can be brought into a positive reappraisal by training via mental shifting:

1. You enable a selection of values that are more congruent with your individual needs

2. You must disengage and withdraw from the initial appraisal into a momentary state of metacognitive awareness to attenuate these semantic evaluations

3. Once this state of mindfulness is established, you may redefine or reframe your circumstances as meaningful, in a way that engenders hope and resilience

“If the basic human capacity to make reappraisals involves the action of a naturally-occurring mindfulness, then mindfulness training should augment one’s ability to make positive reappraisals in the face of acute and chronic stressors.”