Dr. Z.

Dr. Z. online class: courses.thisisdoctorz.com
personal website: www.thisisdoctorz.com

We can all relate to this one, but it's yet another playing-it-safe move!Avoidance doesn't fix the problem, and more oft...
07/06/2026

We can all relate to this one, but it's yet another playing-it-safe move!

Avoidance doesn't fix the problem, and more often than not, it leads us to get burnt out and overwhelmed.

This is where Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) skills come in: I have plenty of practical tips in my toolkit to help you manage anxiety, perfectionism, and overwhelm, so please sign up to my newsletter for regular updates into your inbox!

PLUS, my FREE Playing-it-safe questionnaire can help you to figure out the ways that you play-it-safe and which behaviors are keeping you stuck.

Visit my website to try it today: https://www.thisisdoctorz.com/playing-it-safe-questionnaire/

This workbook, based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, helps you to understand why you put things off, and more impo...
06/29/2026

This workbook, based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, helps you to understand why you put things off, and more importantly, how to overcome these patterns.

From the first to the last chapter you’ll learn to compassionately recognize and tackle the roots of procrastinating behaviors while practicing essential psychological skills.

More about the book here: https://www.thisisdoctorz.com/act-workbook-for-the-anxious-procrastinator/

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

06/26/2026

Your mind has a very convincing list of reasons why right now isn't the right time.

Listen to the new episode of the Playing-It-Safe Podcast
Apple: https://apple.co/2ZJH7GE
Spotify: https://bit.ly/4wpXgiJ

What would you do this week if you weren't playing-it-safe?

06/23/2026

After her divorce, one of my clients filled every single hour. Work. Netflix. Wine. Texting friends at midnight. She said, "I just can't let myself stop." Because stopping meant feeling it.

That's a playing-it-safe behavior called disengaging and using safety crutches. Alcohol. Scrolling. Overwork. Overexercising. Anything that keeps us from sitting with what's actually there. And it is one of the most common things I see in my practice.

Here is what I want you to know. Your nervous system learned to avoid pain because at some point, it felt like survival. Disengaging kept you safe when you had no other option. You are not weak. You are not broken. You are doing what you were wired to do.

I want to invite you to try something today. The next time you reach for your phone, your glass of wine, your to-do list, pause. Ask yourself: what am I trying not to feel right now? Just name it. You don't have to fix it. Willingness, just letting it be there, is the skill.

So many of the people I work with, high achievers, overthinkers, people who look completely fine from the outside, are doing exactly this. You are not alone in it.

What would you do if you weren't playing-it-safe? Subscribe to the Playing It Safe newsletter for weekly skills like this one.

More on this article: thisisdoctorz.com/the-choice-to-feel-2/

🫣 Facing your fears isn't easy! But building a life worth living is about doing what we care about and sometimes this me...
06/21/2026

🫣 Facing your fears isn't easy! But building a life worth living is about doing what we care about and sometimes this means we need to face our fears to move forward.

These 5 tips are a quick guide to help you in these situations but if you are often struggling then you might like to try one of my self-help courses or take a look at my books.

Find these and more on my website: https://thisisdoctorz.com/

06/18/2026

Your mind has a very convincing list of reasons why right now isn't the right time.

Jonathan Haidt calls this the elephant not moving. Willpower is the rider. And when the elephant decides to stay put, the rider doesn't win.

New episode of Playing-It-Safe: the behavioral science of why your reasons sound so reasonable, and the one practice that actually creates change.

Listen to the new episode of the Playing-It-Safe Podcast
Apple: https://apple.co/2ZJH7GE
Spotify: https://bit.ly/4wpXgiJ

What would you do this week if you weren't playing-it-safe?

06/15/2026

I had a client who believed every anxious thought that showed up. "I'm going to fail." "I don't belong here." "If I stop worrying, something bad will happen." So she argued back. Made lists. Kept journals to challenge every thought. And waited until she felt differently to take any action. The thoughts just kept coming. Louder.

What she was doing is a playing-it-safe behavior called overvaluing and overidentifying with your thoughts. Treating what the mind produces as facts. As commands. And then waiting to think differently before doing anything, which is exactly backwards. In ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), we know that confidence comes after action. Not before it.

Here is what I want you to know. You were never taught how to have a thought without believing it. No one modeled that for you. This is not a flaw in you. It is a gap in what you were given.

I want to invite you to try this today. The next time a difficult thought shows up, instead of arguing with it or waiting for it to change, ask one question: is following this thought moving me toward the life I want or away from it? Act from there. The thought can come along for the ride.

So many of the people I work with are exhausted from fighting their own minds every single day, waiting to feel ready, waiting to feel confident, waiting to feel differently. You are not alone in this.

What would you do if you stopped overvaluing your thoughts?

Take the 7-minute playing-it-safe quiz at https://www.thisisdoctorz.com/playing-it-safe-questionnaire/

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