Cognitive Distortions
This cognitive distortion involves thinking in extremes, like "always" or "never."
What is all-or-nothing thinking?
This acronym stands for the most well-known 12-step fellowship.
What is AA (Alcoholics Anonymous)?
The total number of steps in the AA recovery program.
What is 12?
True or False: Avoiding difficult emotions makes them go away.
What is false?
Drinking plenty of this keeps your body hydrated and helps flush out toxins.
What is water?
This distortion involves focusing only on the negatives in a situation and ignoring the positives.
What is mental filtering?
This acronym reminds us to pause before reacting: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.
What is HALT?
In Step 4, members are asked to make a "searching and fearless" inventory of this.
What is a moral inventory of ourselves?
Talking to one of these people — like a friend, sponsor, or therapist — can help us process our feelings.
What is a support person/someone you trust/sober support/social support?
Getting enough of this each night helps your brain and body heal in sobriety.
What is sleep?
When you assume you know what others are thinking—usually something negative—you're engaging in this distortion.
What is mind reading?
This acronym helps with goal setting in recovery: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
What is SMART?
According to AA tradition, the only requirement for membership is this.
What is a desire to stop drinking?
This emotion is often felt underneath anger, especially when someone hurts us.
What is sadness/hurt?
This habit of practicing calm awareness of your thoughts and feelings supports mental health in recovery.
What is mindfulness?
This distortion involves expecting the worst possible outcome, often without evidence.
What is catastrophizing?
This recovery fellowship supports individuals seeking healthy relationships and healing from codependency.
What is CoDA (Codependents Anonymous)?
True or false: AA has over 5 million members.
What is false? AA has an estimated 2 million members.
This practice involves noticing your feelings without trying to escape, control, or change them—key for preventing relapse.
What is acceptance?
Practicing this means doing kind things for yourself regularly, like taking breaks or enjoying hobbies.
What is self-care?
Saying things like "I should be able to handle this" is an example of this distortion.
What is "should" statements?
This acronym stands for a therapy developed by Marsha Linehan to help individuals with emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness.
What is DBT?
This is the state in which AA was invented.
What is Ohio?
Many people in recovery learn that this dangerous setback can happen when they don’t deal with or process their emotions.
What is relapse?
Practicing this means recognizing negative thoughts and gently redirecting them to more positive or realistic ones.
What is cognitive reframing/positive thinking?