From Negative Talk to Positive Strides: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Canicrossers with Professor Dawn Carnes (Episode 170)

In this episode, Michelle Mortimer and Louise Humphrey welcome Professor Dawn Carnes, an expert in musculoskeletal health and chronic pain psychology. Dawn introduces a cognitive-behavioural approach to help runners and canicrossers break through mental barriers. She explains how thoughts, emotions and behaviours are interconnected and offers practical strategies: insight into automatic negative thinking, goal‑setting with SMART objectives, problem‑solving, self‑visualisation, and self‑compassion.
 
Through a live demonstration, Michelle and Louise explore addressing motivations, reframing “chore” workouts (e.g. running intervals) into enjoyable alternatives (like netball), and challenging negative automatic thoughts mid-run. The episode concludes with encouragement to tackle fears one small step at a time, reinforcing that change is achievable by breaking tasks into manageable chunks.
 
Topics

• Cognitive‑behavioural triad: thoughts, feelings, behaviours


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  Behavioural activation: how exercise lifts mood with dopamine/cortisol
  


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  Finding enjoyable alternatives to boring workouts
  


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  Problem‑solving demo: overcoming injury with strength training
  


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  SMART goals explained
  


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  Challenging negative self-talk & predictions
  


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  Avoiding perfectionism & embracing fluctuations
  


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  "Compare and despair”: the impact of social media
  


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  Five-step action plan for sustainable change