Common MisThinkings

Further there are many ‘thinking errors’ or common misthinkings defined by cognitive behavioral therapy as defined in the book ‘Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Made Simple’.

Here is a list of common misthinkings:

Type Description Example
Black and white Seeing things in extreme If I do badly on this exam, I’m an idiot
Shoulding Way we want things is way ought to be I should have been more patient or not acted
Overgeneralization One instance applies to everything I don’t know the answer to the question, so I don’t know any answers
Catastrophizing Thinking a situation is much worse than it is A customer got really made at me so my boss will probably fire me
Discounting the positive Minimize evidence that contradicts one’s negative automatic thoughts She said yes when I asked her out only because she felt sorry for me
Emotional reasoning Assuming our feelings convey useful information My nervousness about flying means there’s a good chance my plane will crash
Fortune telling Making predictions on scant information The rental company probably won’t have any cars left
Mind reading Assuming we know what someone else is thinking They thought I looked like an idiot when I couldn’t get my slides to load
Personalization Thinking events that have nothing to do with us are actually about us She seems upset – it’

 s probably because of something I did

Entitlement Expecting to reach a certain outcome based on our actions I deserve to be promoted after working hard
Outsourcing happiness Giving outside factors the final say regarding our emotions I can’t be happy unless othes give me the respect I deserve
False sense of helplessness Believing we have less power than we actually do There’s no point in applying for jobs – nobody going to hire me
False sense of responsibility Believing we have more power than we actually do If I were a more interesting speaker, nobody would every yawn during my talks

 

Check my other article to learn more and start thinking differently!
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