Challenging Cognitive Distortions
Inability to disconfirm: You reject any evidence or arguments that might contradict your negative thoughts. For example, when you have the thought “I’m a failure,” you reject as irrelevant any evidence that you have had some success – for example, “That was just a small thing. It is not the real issue- there are more important tasks that I’m not good at.” Consequently, your thought cannot be refuted.
Challenge Steps
1. Rate the degree of your belief and identify and rate your emotions. (Form 1.4)
2. Identify exactly what your thought is. (Form 1.8)
3. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis (Form 2.2):
a. What is the consequence of thinking in this vague and indefinable way? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
b. What is the consequence of thinking in terms that no one else can quite understand? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
c. Are you assuming that because your thinking is vague and difficult to pin down, you are a deep thinker? Is it possible you are/were confused? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Examine evidence for and against your position (Form 2.3). Is it possible to collect evidence that goes against your thought? ______________________________________________________________________
5. What is the quality of evidence that supports your thought or goes against your thought? (Form2.4)
6. What cognitive distortions are you using to support your belief? Are you relying on emotional reasoning, discounting positives, or negative filters? (Form1.6) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Apply the double standard exercise. If someone else thought this way, what advice would you give him/her? (Form 6.3)
8. How could you prove that your thought is right/wrong? Is it testable? (Form 4.12)
a. If your thought can’t be tested – if there is no possible way to prove that you are right/wrong, then isn’t your thought really meaningless? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
b. If your thinking is so vague that it can’t be tested, does this make you feel helpless about changing things? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Imagine having to set up an experiment to test your thought. How would you go about collecting information? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How would you go about explaining the experiment to a stranger? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. What actions could you take that would “act against” your thought? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Again, rate the degree of your belief and identify and rate your emotions. (Form 1.4)