Name That Distortion
“I ate one unhealthy meal today. I completely blew my diet, so I might as well give up.”
All-or-Nothing Thinking
Clue: One involves assuming you know what another person is thinking or feeling. The other involves predicting what will happen in the future without enough evidence.
Name both.
Mind Reading and Fortune Telling
Both are forms of Jumping to Conclusions.
Someone has been sober for six months and has a lapse. They think: “Well, there goes six months. I'm back at square one.”
All-or-Nothing Thinking
May also involve: Discounting the Positive
“I screwed this up. I'm such an idiot.”
Rewrite this as a more balanced thought.
Example Answer: “I made a mistake. I can look at what went wrong without defining myself by it.”
“I made a mistake…”
Complete the thought with something else that can also be true.
Example answer:
“I made a mistake and that mistake does not define who I am.”
“I didn't get the job. Things like this never work out for me.”
Overgeneralization
One involves focusing on negative information while overlooking the rest of the picture.
The other involves noticing positive information but explaining it away so it doesn't count.
Name both.
Mental Filter and Discounting the Positive
Someone receives a positive performance review with one area for improvement. On the way home, they think: “My boss clearly isn't happy with me.”
Mental Filter
May also involve: Mind Reading
“They haven't called me back. They clearly don't want to talk to me.”
Rewrite this as a more balanced thought.
Example Answer: “I don't know why they haven't called me back yet. There are several possible explanations.”
“Someone criticized me, and part of their criticism was valid…”
Complete the thought with something else that can also be true.
Example answer:
“Part of their criticism was valid and that doesn't mean everything I did was wrong.”
Nine people tell you that your presentation was excellent. One person says one section was confusing. You spend the rest of the day focused only on the criticism.
Mental Filter
Also called: Selective Abstraction
A: “I failed this test. I'm going to fail every test.”
B: “I failed this test. I'm a failure.”
What distortion is most clearly illustrated by A and by B?
A: Overgeneralization
B: Labeling
“I've damaged relationships because of my addiction. I'm a terrible person.”
Labeling
“I should be able to handle this on my own.”
Rewrite this as a more balanced thought.
Example Answer: “I'd like to be able to handle this on my own, but it's okay to need support sometimes.”
“I've hurt people while struggling with addiction…”
Complete the thought with something else that can also be true.
Example answer:
“I've hurt people while struggling with addiction and I can take responsibility for that harm while still believing I am capable of change.”
“I know I got the promotion, but that's only because my boss likes me. It doesn't really say anything about my abilities.”
Discounting the Positive
May also involve: Mind Reading
A: “I made a mistake at work. This is a complete disaster.”
B: “I made a mistake at work. I feel incompetent, so I probably am incompetent.”
What distortion is most clearly illustrated by A and by B?
A: Magnification (Catastrophizing)
B: Emotional Reasoning
Your partner says, “Can we talk later tonight?” Within five minutes, you're imagining the relationship ending, having to move out, being alone, and your entire life falling apart.
Magnification (Catastrophizing)
May also involve: Fortune Telling
“I'm anxious about going, which probably means I'm not ready.”
Rewrite this as a more balanced thought.
Example Answer: “Feeling anxious doesn't necessarily mean I'm not ready. I can feel anxious and still be ready.”
“Something I'm afraid of could actually happen…”
Complete the thought with something else that can also be true.
Example answer:
“Something I'm afraid of could happen and that doesn't mean it definitely will.”
“I lied to my partner while I was using. I'm just a dishonest person.”
Labeling
A: “My partner is upset. It must be because of something I did.”
B: “Our relationship problems are entirely my partner's fault.”
These represent two different ways of inaccurately assigning responsibility. What is the primary distortion in each?
A: Personalization / Self-Blame
B: Other-Blame
“I've been working on myself for months. I shouldn't still get this upset when things go wrong. I should be able to handle it better by now.”
Should Statements
May also involve: Discounting the Positive
“Relapsing proves that everything I've been doing was pointless.”
Rewrite this as a more balanced thought.
Example Answer: “The relapse is important and I need to address it, but it doesn't erase what I've learned or the progress I've made.”
TRUE OR FALSE:
If a thought contains a cognitive distortion, the thought must be completely false.
FALSE
A thought can contain something true while also being incomplete, exaggerated, overly rigid, or unsupported in some of its conclusions.
“I relapsed, so I'll never recover.”
“I relapsed” may be true.
“I'll never recover” is an unsupported conclusion.