Name That Trap
You get one question wrong on a test and think, "I'm terrible at everything."
What is overgeneralizing?
"Everyone is going to think I'm awkward."
What is a thought, not a fact?
"I'll never make any friends at this school."
A balanced response might be: "Making friends takes time. I haven't met everyone yet."
You post a picture and don't get as many likes as you expected. You think, "Everyone thinks I look stupid."
Mind reading
Complete the sentence:
"A thought can feel true without being ________."
Completely true
You text your friend and they don't respond for three hours. You think, "They're definitely mad at me."
What is mind reading?
"My heart is beating really fast."
What is a fact/observation?
"If I don't get invited, nobody likes me."
"Not being invited doesn't tell me what everyone thinks about me."
You aren't invited to one weekend hangout and think, "I'm never included in anything."
Overgeneralizing
What is one question you can ask yourself when you're mind reading?
"Do I actually know what they're thinking?"
You think, "If I mess up this presentation, everyone will laugh at me and I'll never live it down."
What is catastrophizing?
"I know my friends are talking about me.”"
What is a thought or assumption?
"I have to do everything perfectly."
"I want to do well, but I don't have to be perfect."
You have to give a presentation tomorrow and think, "I'm going to completely embarrass myself."
Fortune telling or catastrophizing
What's a helpful question to challenge fortune telling?
"Do I know this will happen, or am I predicting the future?"
You think, "I have to get an A. Anything less means I failed."
What is all-or-nothing thinking?
"I failed this quiz, so I'm going to fail the whole class."
What is a prediction, not a fact?
"My teacher looked annoyed, so she must be angry with me."
"I don't know what she's thinking. There could be lots of reasons she looked annoyed."
You get a B on an assignment and think, "I'm such a failure. I should have gotten an A."
"Should" statements + all-or-nothing thinking
Turn this rigid thought into a more flexible one:
"I have to get this perfect."
"I'd like to do well, but I don't have to be perfect."
You get 9 positive comments and 1 negative comment on your project, but you can only think about the negative one.
What is negative filtering?
True or false: If a thought feels extremely convincing, that means it must be completely true.
False! A thought can feel true without being completely true.
"If I feel anxious, something bad must be about to happen."
"Feeling anxious is a feeling, not proof that something bad will happen."
You have a great day with your friends, but one person makes a weird comment. You go home thinking, "Today was awful."
Negative filtering
You're thinking, "Everyone is going to judge me." Name two ways you could make this thought more flexible.
"Some people might notice, but that doesn't mean they'll judge me."
"I can't know what everyone is thinking."
"Even if someone judges me, I can handle it."