Thoughts and the Brain
These are like “pictures on the TV screen of the mind.”
Answer: What are thoughts?
These are natural and automatic responses to life events—neither good nor bad.
Answer: What are emotions?
These are actions you take, whether working, using substances, or going to treatment.
Answer: What is behavior?
“This will turn out terrible—I just know it.”
Answer: What is fortune telling?
This is the main purpose of Socratic questioning.
Answer: What is challenging distorted or unhelpful thoughts?
This skill involves switching your attention from substance-related thinking to something healthier.
Answer: What is “changing the channel”?
In early recovery, emotions may feel unpredictable or “mixed up” because substance use changed this organ.
Answer: What is the brain?
Substances push both thoughts and emotions toward this outcome.
Answer: What is using/substance use?
“If I make one mistake, everything is ruined.”
Answer: What is all-or-nothing thinking?
“What evidence do I have for this thought?” is an example of a ______ question.
Answer: What is a Socratic question?
Habitual substance use makes thoughts become this—fast, repetitive, and linked to cravings.
Answer: What is automatic?
Although we cannot control emotions, we can control what we do about them—this is called _____.
Answer: What is emotional regulation?
Name one “addictive behavior” from the list provided in the session.
Answer: (Examples: lying, stealing, isolating, being unreliable, impulsivity, using other substances, etc.)
“My friend didn’t text back. She must hate me.”
Answer: What is mind reading?
This question helps you distance from emotional reasoning: “Is this based on _____ or feelings?”
Answer: What are facts?
Becoming aware of your thinking is difficult at first, but gets easier with this.
Answer: What is practice?
This emotion may show up “for no reason” in early recovery, even if nothing bad happened.
Answer: What is irritability (or anger)?
This strategy helps people regain control of behavior: creating a routine and filling time intentionally.
Answer: What is structuring time?
“This bad thing happened because I had a negative thought.”
Answer: What is magical thinking?
A Socratic question that helps reduce catastrophizing:
“What is the worst, best, and most _____ outcome?”
Answer: What is most likely?
The part of the brain where rational thoughts occur.
Answer: What is the rational/cognitive part of the brain?
Talking to others about emotions helps increase this critical recovery skill.
Answer: What is emotional awareness?
A key goal of recovery is learning to combine this part of yourself with the feeling self to guide behavior.
Answer: What is the thinking self?
“Because I feel like a failure, I must be a failure.”
Answer: What is emotional reasoning?
A compassion-based Socratic question: “What would I say to a _____ who had this thought?”
Answer: What is a friend?