Cognitive Distortions
This distortion focuses only on the negative parts of a situation while ignoring anything neutral or positive.
Disqualifying the positive
This defense mechanism involves refusing to accept reality even when there is evidence that something is true.
Denial
This stage of change describes not yet seeing a behavior as a problem.
Precontemplation
This type of relationship pattern involves depending too much on another person for approval, identity, or emotional stability.
Codependency
This skill involves doing something healthy and absorbing for a short time to get through intense distress safely.
Distraction
This cognitive distortion unfairly blames yourself for something that was not fully your responsibility.
Personalization
This defense mechanism involves pushing painful thoughts or feelings out of awareness without realizing it.
Repression
This stage of change involves planning specific steps and getting ready to make a change soon.
Preparation
This support role offers guidance, experience, and encouragement from someone further along in recovery.
Sponsor/mentor
This DBT skill uses temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing, and muscle relaxation to quickly reduce emotional intensity.
TIPP
This cognitive distortion uses words like “should,” “must,” or “have to” in a way that creates guilt, pressure, or resentment.
"Should" statements
This defense mechanism involves blaming another person for feelings, motives, or traits that are actually your own.
Projection
This stage of change involves continuing healthy behaviors after change has already started.
Maintenance
This unhealthy support pattern protects someone from consequences and can unintentionally keep the problem going.
Enabling
This skill uses comforting sensory experiences, such as music, a warm shower, or calming smells, to reduce distress.
Self-soothing
This cognitive distortion exaggerates the importance of a problem or mistake, or shrinks the importance of strengths, progress, or successes.
Magnification/minimization
This defense mechanism involves returning to a younger or less mature way of coping when under stress.
Regression
This experience can happen when a person returns to an old behavior but uses it as information rather than proof of failure.
Relapse
This relationship skill involves making a genuine effort to repair harm after taking responsibility for behavior.
This skill means mentally weighing the short-term and long-term outcomes before acting on an impulse.
Pros and cons
This cognitive distortion involves believing that your thoughts, feelings, or actions caused something unrelated to happen.
Magical thinking
This defense mechanism involves turning painful emotions into humor, logic, or intellectual explanations to avoid feeling them directly.
This term describes confidence in your ability to handle challenges and follow through with change.
Self-efficacy
This term refers to relationships, routines, and environments that help protect a person from returning to old patterns.
Protective factors
This DBT skill involves accepting the facts of reality as they are, without approving of them or giving up.
Radical acceptance