Negative Thinking? Feeling Stuck?

Negative patterns of thinking can take over our mind sometimes, causing all kinds of emotional distress and prevent personal growth, but there’s a powerful technique that can help shift your mindset—Cognitive Restructuring. This psychological tool, rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is designed to challenge and change negative/unhelpful thoughts, replacing them with more productive and realistic thoughts.

By changing the way we think about the world around us, we can change how we feel and respond to it. Instead of being stuck in our negative thoughts, cognitive restructuring allows us to see situations more clearly, which leads to a reduction of anxiety and stress, and allows us to develop healthier emotional responses.

Cognitive restructuring works because it helps us break the cycle of negative thinking, leading to a more positive and resilient mindset. Here's a breakdown of how cognitive restructuring works:

1. Identifying Negative Thoughts

The first step is recognizing when you're having negative or irrational thoughts or even stuck in a rigid pattern of thinking. These could include things like "I must make a lot of money to be successful," "I won't do well at college because I am not smart enough," or "I am too damaged by my trauma to be lovable." Often, these thoughts are automatic and can be difficult to spot in the moment. By paying attention to your emotional responses—like feeling anxious, sad, disappointed, scared, or insecure—you can start noticing negative thoughts more clearly.

2. Recognizing Cognitive Distortions

Once you've identified a negative thought, cognitive restructuring helps you see whether it's based on a cognitive distortion. Cognitive distortions are common patterns of faulty thinking, such as:

• All-or-nothing thinking: Thoughts starting with words like ‘never’, ‘always’, ‘every’, ‘only’. Not considering any middle ground or perspectives.

• Catastrophizing: Thinking of every stressful situation as the worst possible situation.

• Overgeneralization: Making broad, sweeping conclusions about a situation based on past experience.

• Mind reading: Assuming you know what others are thinking, usually in a negative way or about you.

• Negative Filtering: filtering out any positive information that doesn’t support your negative thought

Recognizing these distortions is key to understanding how your thinking may be faulty and interfering with your ability for growth and resilience.

3. Challenging the Thoughts

After identifying the distorted thought, the next step is to challenge it. This involves asking questions to evaluate the thought’s truthfulness:

• Is there evidence to support this thought? Are there facts to contradict the thought?

• Is the thought based on facts or assumptions and opinions?

• Are there alternative explanations or perspectives you aren’t considering?

• What would you tell a friend who had this thought?

• Are you entertaining this negative thought out of habit or because facts support it?

• Is the negative thought original to you or did you adopt it from somewhere else?

• How likely is the negative thought or scenario to occur?

This process helps you gain a more realistic, objective view of the situation and you may realize that your negative thoughts aren’t as accurate or rational as they initially seemed.

4. Reframing the Thought

The next step is to replace the distorted thoughts with more realistic and productive ones. This doesn’t mean ignoring the negative aspects of circumstances, it's about considering them from a broader perspective that offers more potentional. For example, if you have the thought, "I’ll never get promoted," you might reframe it to, "I haven’t been promoted yet, but I can take steps to improve my chances."

Over time, healthier thinking patterns become more automatic. By practicing cognitive restructuring regularly, you can shift your mindset and reduce the impact of negative thoughts on your emotions and behavior. This is how you build the confidence and resilience you need to grow and thrive.