Identifying Distortions
believing your own achievements are unimportant or that your mistakes are excessively important.
Magnification or minimization
Thinking “My mom is always upset. She would be fine if I did more to help her.”
Personalization
What is the first thing that needs to be done in order to challenge a cognitive distortion?
Identify it!
A person notices their boss looks serious and thinks:
“My boss looks upset… I’m probably going to get fired. Then I won’t pay rent, I’ll lose my home, and everything will fall apart.”
Catastrophizing
This is the medical term for a condition where alcohol or drug use causes problems in a person’s life.
What is a Substance Use Disorder?
Seeing only the worst possible outcomes of a situation.
Catastrophizing
Thinking to yourself “I should always be perfect.”
Should statements
How can you challenge personalizing thoughts?
Reframe: "What evidence do I have that this is really about me?”
Someone wears their “lucky shirt” to a job interview and thinks:
“If I don’t wear this shirt, I definitely won’t get the job.”
magical thinking
True or False: Substance Use Disorders are a moral weakness.
What is False? (They are medical conditions.)
Interpreting the meaning of a situation with little or no evidence.
Jumping to conclusions
Thinking, "I feel like a bad person, so that means I am a bad person."
Emotional reasoning
How do you challenge emotional reasoning?
Reframe emotions as temporary
"I am not my emotions; these feelings are temporary."
A friend compliments someone’s cooking:
“This meal is really good!”
The person responds: “You’re just being nice. Anyone could have made this — it’s nothing.”
Disqualifying the positive
Drugs and alcohol change this organ in the body.
What is the brain?
Interpreting the thoughts and beliefs of others without adequate evidence.
Mind reading
Thinking, "if I hadn't wished for them to not get the job, they wouldn't be financially stressed right now."
Magical thinking
How do we challenge jumping to conclusions?
Do a probability check by looking at how likely the outcome is
A man sees two coworkers whispering and laughing and assumes:
“They’re definitely talking about me. They must think I’m stupid.”
Mind reading or personalization
True or False: The brain can heal after someone stops using substances.
What is True?
Thinking in absolutes or black and white thinking
All or nothing thinking
Focusing on a single negative piece of feedback
disqualifying the positive
How can you challenge should statements?
Identify the “Should”
Notice it when you hear yourself thinking or saying “should,” “must,” or “have to.”
A student fails one math test and thinks:
“I failed this test, so I’ll never be good at school. I’m a failure at everything.”
Overgeneralization
Attending meetings, therapy, and practicing coping skills are all examples of this.
What is relapse prevention?