CBT basics
CBT focuses on the connection between these three things.
What are thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?
Seeing things as all good or all bad.
What is bland and white thinking?
The upsetting thought written first in a thought record.
What is an automatic thought?
Facing feared situations gradually.
What is exposure?
Deeply held beliefs about yourself, others, or the world.
what are core beleifs?
This is the term for the quick, automatic interpretations we have in situations.
What are automatic thoughts?
Assuming you know what others are thinking.
What is mind reading?
This column lists what supports or contradicts a thought.
What is evidence?
Scheduling enjoyable activities to improve mood.
What is behavioral activation?
Assignments given between sessions.
What is homework?
CBT is typically this kind of therapy: short-term and goal-directed.
What is structured?
When small problems feel huge.
What is catastrophizing?
At the end of a thought record, clients generate this more balanced statement.
What is an alternative thought?
Testing predictions by trying a behavior in real life.
What is a behavioral experiment?
Assumptions like “I must be perfect” are called this.
What are intermediate beliefs or rules?
The founder of CBT.
Who is Aaron Beck?
Blaming yourself for events outside your control.
What is personalization?
Rating how strongly you believe a thought (0–100%) is called this.
What is belief strength?
Practicing feared bodily sensations to reduce panic.
What is interoceptive exposure?
The teamwork approach is shared by the therapist and the client.
What is collaborative empiricism?
This CBT technique involves questioning your thoughts to make them more realistic.
What is cognitive restructuring?
Ignoring the positives and focusing only on the negatives.
What is mental filtering?
Recognizing repeated distortions or patterns across thought records.
What is identifying cognitive themes?
Breaking tasks into smaller steps for success.
What is task breakdown (or activity scheduling)?
Testing thoughts through observation rather than logic alone.
What is empirical hypothesis testing?