‘Types of distorted Thinking Black ead Whhte Thinking: Seeing things in all c nothing terms: Bither as totally good or totally Overgeneralizing: Seaing 2 negative event as @ never-ending partern of defeat. Negative Fittering: Seeing only the negative aspects ofa situation while screening out the postive aspects, Mind Reading: Assuming that others are (or will be) thinking about you negatively. Fortune Telling: Predicting that events will tum out badly and thet you won't be able to do anything about it Magnifying/Minimizing: Overvaluing negative information and undervaluing positive information. Enotional Reasoaing: Assuming that ifyou fee! something is rut, it must be mue, ‘Shoulding: Telling yourself that things should or rst be a cerain way (eg, perfect) and it's terible if they aren't (Catastrophizing: Repeatedly imagining bad outcomes; thinking they're likely or that you couldn't stand it if they happen. Personalizing: Placing 100% blame on ont person, (ourself or someone else) for a negative event that had many causes, ‘Questions to help compose an alternative response 1 ‘Wht isthe evidence thatthe automatic thought is ‘rue? Not rue? Isthere a alternative explanation? ‘What's the worst that could happen? Could live ‘through if? What's the best that could happen? What's ‘the most realistic outcome? ‘What's the effect of my believing the auromatic thought? What could be the effect of ght? ‘changing may ‘What should I do about it? 1f___ (friend's name) was in the situation and bad thls thought, what would I tell him/her? ‘Types of Adaptive Ts 10. ui Look things in black or white all-or nothing. te ‘he shades of gray. A thing is rarely either: absolucly worthless Remembering Past successes: Balance you! view by recalling some past successes or posit events. Looking for a positive: Instead of seeing only 2h negative aspects of a situation, find at least oe positive (a silver lining). Decentering: None of us is atthe ceater of ‘universe. People have other things 10 do th around thinking negative thoughts about you. They may just be thinking about whar to have for lunch. Allowing yoursef to hopes little: Dare ro make 2 hopefil statement and act on it. Hope, even litle hope, can provide power to sustain you ustil yeu get ‘where you waat 0 go. Making molehills: Instead of making mountains ou of molekills, break big problems down into sm pisces or action steps Balancing emotion with logic: Have vour emeticus always been the best indicetor or what's tue? How many times have you feta seise of doom and had thinge mire out okay? The situation mey nct 1s you feel. What does logic say? Gaining perspective: If 0 ~ breaking s Sngemail end 100 = nuclear holocaust, whet rating woul the event your dealing with right now? Will you remember this event in a week? A month? A Five years? Hf you do, will you feel the seme way about if? Compare yourself to those less forrunere. (Compare this time to the worst period in your life. Adjusting unrealistic expectations: it doesn't belp to tell yourself that things “should” or “shouldn't 5¢ certain way and it’s terrible if they're not, Be realistic with yourself and others. Keep in mind everyone is fallible. Whet's unacceptable to cn: person may be just fine to another De-catestrophizing: what resources are availa ‘you (people, places, things)? If the worst bepy ‘what's the first thing you wauld do to stan gening back on tack? Then what? Then what? Can you see yourself eventually recovering fi ‘Might you even surprise yourself exd rebound quickly? Being solution-focused: don'tiblame one pe (ee, your f Five event thet b many likely causes, Remember that human beings are by anue fallible beings. Focus on caveloping solutions, not on criticizing, blaming end punis