Baking with CBT

Baking with

Cognitive behaviour therapy

When I started therapy to help  my mental health problems I never thought Id be using it Bake!!!

It helped identify 2 of my most negative thought patterns, I was self critical of myself and had control issues. 

I'm not going to lie and say I'm cured and I that don't have the same problems. However knowing your problems and being willing to admit to them, is part of the process of managing them. 

In a way this blog started because of my therapy. The stigma associated with having a mental health condition is one of the main problems.  It makes it harder for individuals to ask for help. But If no one talks about mental health problems how are people that haven't experienced it start to understand? Meaning the stigma will always remain.  (this made perfect sense in my head, not sure if it translate well to the written word!!!!) 

A few years ago I agreed to bake 100 cookies for my nieces and nephews Christmas Fair.  I hadn't thought about how I was going to do it, when I was going to do it or how I was going to get them there.  Suddenly I got overwhelmed by the task Id taken on. 

 I had 1 cookie tray, a single oven and very little counter space.  Making the dough was no problem, cutting out and baking them was.  I had to place them on sheets of grease proof paper and keep them in the fridge till the oven was free.  Then switched the cooked ones of the baking tray to cool.  It was chaos in the kitchen and it took me all day to make them. 

I got myself so stressed I set off my IBS, I ended up spending the night on the sofa with a hot water bottle.  The stomach spasms didn't stop till early morning, so I didn't get much sleep. 

I agreed to bake them cookies again for this year's fair the week before going on holiday.  But this time I broke down the task, to make it less stressful.

 ( See  psychology for more information )

How to use CBT to bake

Break down the process, into 3 sections

- Look out and weight the ingredients, pre- heat your oven

(have a cup of tea)

- Use the ingredients to make the batter or dough. 

- Put it into the oven and bake

(have another cup of tea while it bakes)

Christmas Cookie mission 2012

I arranged for them to be collected on the Sunday before the fair, I placed them into containers so they could be frozen till required.  Leaving the rest of my week free for getting ready for my holiday

Friday

On the Friday afternoon I made up the cookie dough, wrapped it in a plastic bag and placed in the fridge overnight.  Looked out 3 trays to bake them on.

Saturday

Pre-heated the oven.  Rolled out, then cut out the cookies and placed on baking trays ready to go in the oven.  While the first batches baked I cut out more cookies, put them on plates and kept in the fridge till the Oven was free. 

Allowed the cookies to cool, then packed them up. 

Sunday

Cookies being collected, so had a day of rest

Splitting the processes up into smaller chunks made the job a lot less stressful and enjoyable.  I had all the cookies baked in 3 hours.  Having 3 baking trays instead of 1 and a new double oven helped as well. 

It seems common sense, but when your stressed or busy your brain shuts down. Especially if  you've promised to bake for your kids school or a cake and bake.