8/10 - Cognitive Distortions

Agenda

Check-in/Process

Overview

Types of Distortions w/ Activity

Ways to Untwist Your Thinking

Final Activity

Cognitive distortions

Cognitive distortions are automatic, negative thought patterns that often occur without us even realizing it. They are usually irrational, biased thoughts that influence our emotions and behaviors. They're like mental shortcuts our brains take, leading us to misinterpret situations, events, or other people. They can create unnecessary stress, anxiety, and even impact our relationships.

The brain's attempt at making shortcuts

They are typically negative

Negatively impacts our mental well-being

We all experience them

Our brains are constantly bombarded with an immense amount of information from our surroundings, and processing all of it in a detailed and accurate manner would be overwhelming and time-consuming. Shortcuts help us process information more efficiently, but they can also lead to errors and biases in our thinking.

A normal part of human thinking, and we all experience them to some degree. They are automatic and often occur without our conscious awareness. These distortions can be influenced by various factors, including past experiences, beliefs, cultural influences, and personal biases.

Cognitive distortions involve selective perception, where individuals focus only on certain aspects of a situation and ignore others. This filtering process tends to emphasize negative aspects, leading to a skewed perception of reality.

They can create unnecessary stress, anxiety, and even impact our relationships. They can impair our coping mechanisms, making it difficult to navigate life challenges.

Why so negative?

Cognitive distortions are typically negative because they involve irrational and biased ways of thinking, leading to inaccurate perceptions of reality. These distorted thought patterns often focus on the negative aspects of situations, events, or the self while minimizing or ignoring positive elements. As a result, they can contribute to negative emotions, maladaptive behaviors, and impaired decision-making. Here are a few reasons why cognitive distortions are predominantly negative:

Emphasis on threats

Amplifies negative emotions

Perfectionism & unrealistic standards

Confirmation bias

The human brain is wired to pay more attention to potential threats for survival purposes. Cognitive distortions often play into this tendency, leading to an exaggerated focus on negative possibilities and perceived dangers.

Cognitive distortions can amplify negative emotions like fear, sadness, and anger. By magnifying negative aspects of a situation, these distortions intensify emotional responses, leading to increased distress.

Distortions like "Should" Statements and All-or-Nothing Thinking set unrealistic and unattainable standards. When individuals fail to meet these standards, they tend to perceive themselves or their efforts as inadequate, resulting in negative self-perception.

Cognitive distortions can reinforce pre-existing negative beliefs about oneself or the world. Individuals may unknowingly seek out information or interpret events in a way that confirms their negative beliefs, further strengthening the distortion.

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types of cognitive distortions

Mental Filtering

jumping to conclusions

Personalization

Black and White thinking

catastrophizing

Overgeneralizing

Labeling

"should" & "Must" statements

Emotional reasoning

Magnification & Minimization

Thought Record

Activity

Alison Ledgerwood

Investigates how certain ways of thinking about an issue tend to stick in people's heads.

Cognitive Distortions

Norris Vorasane, Mental Health Intern

check-in

Thursday, August 10

• Name
• Emotion word
• What is something good that happened within the last week?
• Pick a number between 1 - 300

Alison Ledgerwood

Investigates how certain ways of thinking about an issue tend to stick in people's heads.

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ways to untwist your thinking

untwist your thinking

Identify the distortion

Double standard method

Examine the evidence

Thinking in shades of gray

Experimental technique

Instead of assuming that your negative thought is true, examine the actual evidence for it. If you feel that you never do anything right, you could list several things you have done successfully.

Write down your negative thoughts so you can see which cognitive distortion that you are using. This will help you think about the problem in a more realistic and positive way. ​

Instead of thinking about your problems in all-or nothing extremes, evaluate things on a range of 0 to 100. When things don’t work out as well as you hoped, think about the experience as a partial success rather than complete failure.​

Instead of putting yourself down in a harsh, condemning way, talk to yourself in the same compassionate way you would talk to a friend with a similar problem.

Do an experiment to test the validity of your negative thought.

untwist your thinking

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Survey method

Semantic method

Define terms

Cost-benefit analysis

Re-attribution

Ask people questions to find out if your thoughts and attitudes are realistic. If you believe that public speaking anxiety is abnormal and shameful, ask several friends if they ever felt nervous before they gave a talk.​

Simply substitute language that is less colorful and emotionally loaded. This method is helpful for 'should' statements. Instead of telling yourself “I shouldn’t have made that mistake,” you can say “it would be better if I hadn’t made that mistake.”

Instead of automatically assuming that you are bad and blaming yourself entirely for a problem, think about the many factors that may have contributed to it. Focus on solving the problem instead of using up all your energy blaming yourself and feeling guilty.​

When you label yourself inferior or fool or a loser ask “What is the definition of a fool?" You will feel better when you see that there is no such thing as a fool or a loser.​

List the advantages and disadvantages of a feeling, a thought or a behavior.​

Derrick Carpenter

Discusses additional key tactics that will intercept and defeat these thoughts before they have a chance to infiltrate your life.

Putting your thoughts on trial

Choose a thought that you want to put on trial. What type of cognitive distortion is it?

The thought

Evidence for the thought. Evidence can only be used if it's a verifiable fact.

Activity

The defense

In this activity, you will put a thought on trial by acting as a defense attorney, prosecutor, and judge, to determine the accuracy of the thought.

Evidence against the thought. Evidence can only be used if it's a verifiable fact.

The prosecution

Come to a verdict regarding your thought. Is the thought accurate and fair? Are there other thoughts that could explain the facts?

The judge's verdict

Thoughts on trial

Examples to choose from:

1. I can't even get through 2 weeks without using. I'm a failure.
2. I've been with her through everything in the last 2 years and she's never there for me.
3. I thought I was doing great this whole week, but I forgot to clean up my room and now they're all on me about everything.
4. I said 'good morning' to her, but she gave me an attitude . . . . . we don't need to talk anymore while I'm here in treatment.
5. I'm so stressed, I can't do this anymore. I need a drink. It's the only way to feel better.

questions to challenge your thoughts

1. What facts support this thought? What existing evidence contradicts it? 2. What would the worst possible outcome be, if this thought were true? 3. Am I using a past experience to overgeneralize? 4. Is there any way I might view this in a positive way? 5. Will this matter one day from now? What about in one week, or month? How? 6. What are some ways I’ve dealt with this scenario before? 7. What advice would my counselor or therapist give about this situation?

8. What am I ready to accept about this event or person? 9. Are my thoughts helping me deal with this scenario? Or are they aggravating the situation? 10. Can I genuinely control this? 11. Besides myself, what else might be affecting this situation? 12. Am I using “I must,” “I have to,” or “I should” thinking here? Is it truly necessary? 13. What advice would I give a friend in this scenario?

Kahoot

Activity

Phones are allowed ONLY during this period (Only the first 10 people can use their phones. Others can still play, just follow the screen)

THANK YOU