Ever wish anxiety didn’t run the show? In this episode, we unpack Veronica Walsh’s fun science-backed CBT tools to take control.

Learn how to work with your inner “anxiety narrator” rather than fight it, using visualisation, compassionate self-talk, and playful perspective shifts. In this long-form version of the CBT Self-Acceptance explainer, you’ll discover how to:

• Separate yourself from anxious thoughts and beliefs
• Use humour and playful perspectives to disarm anxious self-talk — from Bridget Jones to Hugh Grant rom-coms, Conan O’Brien, and even monkeys and wolves
• Understand the science of anxiety
• Create an emotional pause by naming and managing feelings
• Build self-acceptance, compassion, and understanding as core self-regulation skills

These brain-friendly strategies are easy to understand, remember, and apply — helping you manage anxiety while letting “the real you” take the lead. Dive in!

Explore more guides, audio, and video at iVeronicaWalsh.wordpress.com and CBTandFeelingGood.com.

Further reading: Self-Acceptance and Embracing Who You Are

• Further reading: [Self-Acceptance and Embracing Who You Are](https://iveronicawalsh.wordpress.com/2025/03/31/self-acceptance-and-embracing-who-you-are-cbt-visualisation-and-self-talk/)
• A CBT Visual - download the PDF - https://iveronicawalsh.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/deck_visualizing_self_talk_for_acceptance.pdf

Ever reach for a glass of wine after a long day, thinking it will help you unwind — only to feel more sluggish, low, or anxious the next morning? You’re not imagining it. Alcohol may feel relaxing at the time, but for many of us, it creates an “artificial depression” in the brain and nervous system afterward — and we often don’t connect the dots.

In this fun, practical episode, based on a top CBT workbook by Veronica Walsh, we explore the simple science behind how your “stress relief” drink can backfire, and how CBT can help you regain control of your mood, energy, and evenings.

This brain-friendly episode blends insight with practical action — easy to understand, remember, and apply:

You’ll learn how to:

• Recognize the difference between genuine stress recovery and alcohol-driven “relief” that masks your nervous system activation
• Spot automatic thoughts and misattributions that keep the habit in place (“I need this to relax”)
• Observe and experiment with your own mood, energy, and stress levels to gather evidence for smarter choices
• Apply simple CBT strategies to interrupt the habit loop and replace it with healthier routines step by step
• Experiment to identify which anxiety, low mood, or shakiness might actually be alcohol-related rather than stress-related

CBT is about awareness, evidence, and self-compassion — not judgment. Even small changes in understanding and behaviour can produce surprisingly big improvements in how steady, calm, and energised you feel.

Whether you want to cut back, moderate, or simply understand the habit better, this episode gives you practical tools to reclaim evenings that truly restore your mood, energy, and calm.

Access more CBT resources — handouts, workbooks, audios, and videos:

• Blog & free CBT resource guides: iVeronicaWalsh.wordpress.com
• CBT practice (Ireland): CBTandFeelingGood.com

Why does your brain malfunction for public Speaking? Because it’s ‘scary’? Nope. Because you have a ‘disorder’? Nope. Because of your ‘primal nervous system’? Yes!

Our brain is “wired stupid” for Public Speaking — it’s a common neurobiological nuisance - hack it with CBT!

When we face an audience, our threat response often overreacts, triggering over the top pesky primal fight-or-flight symptoms.. Your brain floods your body with adrenaline, oxygen, and cortisol as if you were facing a physical threat - before rational reasoning even gets a look-in. The result? Racing heart, shaky voice, and a frazzled mind — totally unnecessary and unhelpful for delivering a presentation.

It doesn’t have to stay that way. Public speaking anxiety is the most common form of social phobia — but it is completely manageable with CBT! Build the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral skills to handle the task competently. Imagine that?

This episode, based on a top CBT workbook by Veronica Walsh, is fun, fast, and engaging — giving you practical, proven skills to understand and manage public speaking anxiety:

CBT helps you to:

• Shift your perception: See speaking as a ‘task’, and maybe even an opportunity, rather than a terrifying threat
• Learn the ‘Messenger Mindset’ - the ‘Hugh Grant Rom-Com Defense’ - and the ‘Politicians Strategy’
• Evaluate your resources with your rational brain.
• Understand and harness adrenaline: Use the natural surge of energy to feel “buzzed and pumped” instead of freaked out
• Change behaviour: Show up and build the skill over time, rather than avoiding or self-sabotaging
• Focus on the message: You’re just the messenger of the information - make the value of what you’re communicating more important than ego or self-judgment — it’s not about you!

By interrupting automatic reactions — cognitive, physical, and emotional — with CBT, you can transform your performance and regulate your nervous system. Science is beautiful — and you have the power to change your mind, mood, and delivery. Change your life with this tool box. Dive in!

Access more CBT resources — handouts, workbooks, audios, and videos:

• Blog & free CBT resource guides: iVeronicaWalsh.wordpress.com
• CBT practice (Ireland): CBTandFeelingGood.com