Sidewalk Psychiatry: personal growth for pedestrians

A public art project created by designer Candy Chang, Sidewalk Psychiatry “encourages self-evaluation in transit by posing critical questions on the pavements of New York City with stencils and temporary spray-chalk.

“Now your daily ponderings and emotional problems can be prodded and treated on the go…”

The temporary messages she has painted include:
“Then Why Do You Do It?”
“Do you think that went well?”
“And whose fault is that?”

Part of what fascinates me about this project is that these simple questions can be very stimulating – even help people be more aware of their thinking.

And changing our limiting, negative or unworkable thinking and beliefs can have a huge impact on our lives and personal growth.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the established approaches to changing thinking.

It is, of course, not as simple as just considering a question you read on a sidewalk.

One self-help guide to using this therapy is Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think, by Dennis Greenberger, and Christine Padesky – who led a workshop on CBT that I took in grad school. It definitely helped open up my understanding.

One of the reviews from someone who used the book says, “It gave me concrete tools to use to trace my own thinking and arrive at more balanced thinking. It has given me a belief that my past doesn’t have to control my present and my future.”

Changing beliefs changes possibilities

Morty Lefkoe of The Lefkoe Method notes, “When we try to act inconsistently with our beliefs—such as trying to create wealth or relationships when we have beliefs that act as barriers, or trying to stop procrastination when we have beliefs that necessitate it—we are aware both of the struggle to change and our inability to produce lasting change.

“But when the belief(s) is gone, we unconsciously do whatever we choose to do and there is no resistance.”

From his article How To Create New Possibilities In Your Life.