thought-stopping

A psychological technique often used by sports people to overcome negative attitudes during competition. An athlete is trained to recognize negative thoughts and to replace them with positive, constructive ones. At the start of a slalom, for example, a skier who begins to think about the disastrous consequences of misjudging a turn, replaces these thoughts with thoughts of how the descent can be completed successfully.

A technique used to overcome negative attitudes when performing. The performer is trained to recognize and become aware of negative thoughts, and to replace them with constructive ones. A skier at the start of a slalom, for example, who starts to think about the consequences of misjudging turns, stops these thoughts and replaces them with thoughts of how the descent can be successfully completed. Thought stopping techniques have to be carefully applied. Simply instructing someone to stop having negative thoughts can be counter-productive. See also centring procedure, refocusing.