Cognitive Distortions
Believing you know what others are thinking without evidence
Mind reading
True or False: Thoughts are facts.
False
Rephrase: “I always mess things up.”
Sometimes I make mistakes, but I also do things well
When gathering evidence, we look for facts — not these.
Feelings or assumptions
Compassionate self-talk avoids harsh self-judging words like “stupid,” “lazy,” or “worthless.” What type of language does it use instead?
Supportive or encouraging language
Seeing situations in only black and white terms with no middle ground
all-or-nothing thinking, absolute thinking, black or white thinking
If you can’t prove a thought with real evidence, it may be what?
An assumption
Rephrase: “If I fail this test, my life is over.”
This test is important, but one grade doesn’t define my future
True or False: If something feels true, it must be true.
False
Compassionate self-talk treats yourself the way you would treat whom?
A friend
Expecting the worst possible outcome and treating it as fact
catastrophizing
Reality testing uses what kind of evidence — opinions, feelings, or facts?
Facts
Rephrase: “Nobody likes me.”
Some people may not connect with me, but others do
A friend says, “I’m bad at everything.” Name one specific type of factual evidence that would directly contradict this statement.
A documented success, a completed goal, a skill they perform well, positive feedback they’ve received
True or False: Being self-compassionate means making excuses for harmful behavior.
False
blaming yourself for things outside of your control
Name one alternative explanation for: “My boss didn’t say hi. They must be mad at me.”
They were distracted, busy, stressed, didn’t see me, etc.
Rephrase: “I should be better than this.”
I’m learning and growing, and progress takes time
What is the danger of only looking for evidence that supports your negative thought?
- Strengthening the thought
- Worsening feelings
Instead of saying, “I’m a failure,” compassionate self-talk focuses on what — the whole self or the specific behavior?
The specific behavior
Focusing only on the negative details and ignoring the positive ones.
Mental filtering
Before accepting a negative thought as true, what should you look for?
Evidence
“I can’t handle this.”
This is hard, but I’ve handled difficult things before
When reality testing, which question is more helpful: “What’s the worst that could happen?” or “What’s most likely to happen?”
What’s most likely to happen
Fill in the blank: Compassionate self-talk separates identity from action by saying, “I made a mistake” instead of “I ___ a mistake.”
Am