Awareness Tara came to see me when she was in her mid-30s. By her own account, she had devoted the previous 10 years of her life to conquering and eliminating her obsessive and, as she called it, unstoppable thinking. She had been devoted to self-help for a decade and tried anything and everything to convince her mind to “stop talking” and specifically, to stop telling her she was worthless. Mostly she had used positive thinking methods, which included affirmations and gratitude practices. She had worked as hard to change the thoughts she heard in her head. She was a self-help pickle by now—no longer a cucumber and no going back. But here she was in my office, still struggling and stymied by her unceasing inner chatter, feeling hopeless and beaten, powerless over her thoughts and powerless over what they were doing to her. I’ve met hundreds of Taras—people who have …