Activity

When you feel ready to begin…

Get present: 

– Sit somewhere comfortable.

– Take a few deep breaths in and out. 

– Remind yourself that whatever unfolds during this time is honorable. 

Why is it important to identify faulty thinking?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, better known as CBT, is an evidence-based therapeutic modality that focuses on the connection between one’s thoughts and one’s emotions. CBT has identified 15 different types of faulty thinking, clinically known as “cognitive distortions.” All cognitive distortions are false or inaccurate and have the potential to cause psychological damage.

Review the list of “cognitive distortions” and notice what patterns of faulty thinking you possess; option to list your patterns in a journal. It is important to note that every human being has one or more of these patterns. With greater awareness of our faulty thought patterns, we can work to restructure our thoughts to more accurately assess our experiences.

1. All-or-Nothing Thinking / Polarized Thinking 
   • Also known as “Black-and-White Thinking,” this distortion manifests as an inability or unwillingness to see shades of gray, or nuance. In other words, you see things in terms of extremes (i.e., something is either fantastic or awful; or, you believe you are either perfect or a total failure).
2. Overgeneralization
   • This distortion takes one instance or example and generalizes it to an overall pattern. For example, an employee gets critical feedback about a project, and concludes that they cant do anything right. Overgeneralizing can lead to overly negative thoughts about yourself and your environment, solely based upon one or two experiences.
3. Mental Filter
   • Similar to overgeneralization, the mental filter distortion focuses on a single negative piece of information and excludes all the positive ones. An example of this distortion is one partner in a romantic relationship dwelling on a single negative comment made by the other partner and viewing the relationship as hopelessly lost – while ignoring the years of positive comments and experiences.
4. Disqualifying the Positive
   • The “Disqualifying the Positive” distortion acknowledges positive experiences but rejects them instead of embracing them.
   • For example, a person who receives a positive review at work might reject the idea that they are a competent employee and attribute the positive review to political correctness; or, to their boss simply not wanting to talk about their employee’s performance problems. 
5. Jumping to Conclusions – Mind Reading
   • This “Jumping to Conclusions” distortion manifests as the inaccurate belief that we know what another person is thinking. This distortion refers to the negative outcomes and conclusions that we assume without evidence.
   • Seeing a stranger with an unpleasant expression and assuming that they are thinking something negative about you is an example of this distortion.
6. Jumping to Conclusions – Fortune Telling
   • A similar distortion to mind reading, “Fortune Telling” refers to the tendency to make conclusions and predictions about the future based on little to no evidence and holding them as truth.
   • One example of fortune-telling is saying you will “never” achieve something or you will “always” feel a particular way. This distortion sees predictions as truth, rather than one of several possible outcomes.
7. Magnification (Catastrophizing)
   • This distortion involves exaggerating the meaning, importance, or likelihood of things; fearing the worst possible outcome.
   • An an example of catastrophizing is fearing that you will loose your voice on the day of an audition.
8. Emotional Reasoning
   • Emotional reasoning refers to the acceptance of one’s emotions as fact. It can be described as “I feel it, therefore it must be true.” Just because we feel something doesn’t mean it is true.
   • For example, creating distance from your partner because you believe their silence represents a disinterest with you.
9. Should Statements
   • Should statements are inflexible statements that you make to yourself about what you “should” do, what you “ought” to do, or what you “must” do. These ideas lead to rigid expectations for oneself and others.
   • When we unable be flexible in our “should” statements about ourselves and others, we are often left feeling guilty and disappointed
10. Personalization
    • This distortion involves taking everything personally or assigning blame to yourself without any logical reason to believe you are to blame.
    • This distortion covers interpersonal encounters and random occurrences in ones environment. For instance, believing you are the reason two people crossed the street early, or you are the reason why your parents divorced.
11. Control Fallacies
    • A control fallacy manifests the belief that we are in complete control of ourselves and our surroundings, giving us responsibility for the feelings of those around us. No one is in complete control of what happens to them, and believing you have control over every outcome is unrealistic.
    • A person getting frustrated with friends who will not order certain foods when dining out, is an example of acting out a control fallacy.
12. Fallacy of Fairness
    • While we have been socialized to promote fairness amongst people, the assumption of an inherently fair world is not based in reality and can foster negative feelings when we are faced with proof of life’s unfairness.
    • A person who judges every experience by its perceived fairness has fallen for this fallacy. They will likely feel anger, resentment, and hopelessness when they inevitably encounter a situation that is not fair.
13. Fallacy of Change
    • Another ‘fallacy’ distortion involves expecting others to change if we pressure or encourage them enough. This distortion is usually accompanied by a belief that our happiness and success rests on other people – leading us to believe that forcing those around us to change is the only way to get what we want.
    • A friend who thinks, “We would get a long so much better if you would get a different job” has a fallacy of change distortion.
14. Always Being Right
    • Perfectionists and those struggling with Imposter Syndrome will recognize this distortion – it is the belief that we must always be right. For those struggling with this distortion, the idea that we could be wrong is absolutely unacceptable, and we will fight to the metaphorical death to prove that we are right. It is not simply a matter of a difference of opinion; instead, it is an intellectual battle that must be won at all costs.
15. Heaven’s Reward Fallacy
    • The “Heaven’s Reward Fallacy” manifests as a belief that one’s struggles, one’s suffering, and one’s hard work will result in an earned reward.
    • Sometimes no matter how hard we work or how much we sacrifice, we may not always achieve what we hope to achieve. To think otherwise is a potentially damaging pattern of thought that can result in disappointment, frustration, anger, and even depression when the awaited reward does not materialize.