Jalen Brunson and the DBT Skill of Coping Ahead |
Research has long shown that trying to control one's thoughts can backfire.
The purpose of ruminative worry is to avoid having to think about a negative outcome truly happening.
DBT's Coping Ahead skill helps people escape the worrying trap by approaching the idea that the worry avoids.
In response to a question about doubt after Game 4 of the NY Knicks' historic 2026 playoff run, Jalen Brunson stated: "You're allowed to think about the worst possible scenario, but you gotta go out there and do something about it."
As several online commentators pointed out, this evokes the sentiments of Marxist political theorist Antonio Gramsci, who is quoted as saying "I am a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will."
Interestingly, it is also a brilliantly succinct way to describe the spirit of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), developed and refined over the last 40 years by Marsha Linehan.
It has been understood since Wegner's research in 1987 that thought suppression is not a reliable or effective method of controlling mental experience, since participants trying not to think about a white bear ended up doing so more frequently as a result. This idea of letting go of controlling one's thoughts and instead learning to work with them is reflected in the DBT emotion regulation skill of Coping........