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Identifying Thinking and Behaviour

Cbt

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Harold Lowry
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383 views

Identifying Thinking and Behaviour

Cbt

Uploaded by

Harold Lowry
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Extract from the CBTandFeelingGood.

com w orkbook - © Veronica Walsh

Change your mind, change your mood!


Do the following exercise to help identify ‘thoughts’:

Don’t confuse emotions with thoughts – learn how to identify what you are thinking when you
are feeling upsetting emotions (like anxiety, anger, agression, depression etc.). Beware - the following
statements are not useful:
• I am nervous because I am anxious.
• I am afraid because I am nervous.
• I am angry because I am stressed.
• I am anxious because I am embarrassed.

Those statements all married an emotion with an


emotion… but an emotion doesn’t come out of the blue
and cause another emotion does it? - they are mostly
caused by our thoughts and beliefs and perceptions - so
more thoughtful identifying statements might be:

• I am nervous because I think I will fail this exam


because I always fail at things these days.
• I am afraid because I think this interview is
going to go badly because I’m not good enough
for this job or company.
• I am angry because I think that your behaviour is disgraceful.
• I am anxious because I think that everybody is looking at my big butt in these stupid jeans.

Task: make an ‘emotion and emotion’, and an’ emotion and a thought’ statement:

Emotion & Emotion

Emotion & Thought

Re-cap: thoughts are not the same as feelings – identify the thoughts!

So - feelings are ‘internal emotions’ caused by thoughts. It would not be correct to say
“I feel anxious because I am nervous”, as anxious and nervous are both feelings… it
would be correct to identify the thought that is causing the feeling (eg ‘I know I am going
to make a show of myself at the interview, so I feel anxious and nervous’).

Extract from CBTandFeelingGood workbook Page 1 of 3


Identifying your thoughts and ‘feelings’ – with a simple ‘thought form’. Example:

Thought: I think… Feeling: Therefore, I feel…


I’ll never be happy again Depressed, hopeless
I am fat and ugly Anxious, hopeless
He’s deliberately embarrassing me. Angry, vengeful, defensive
Nobody cares about me. Hurt, isolated, rejected.
I won’t be able to take care of myself. Anxious, helpless
I’ve solved problems before, I can do it again. Hopeful, energised.
I don’t need to be ‘perfect’. Nobody is. Relieved, less pressured.
I should give myself credit for trying. Practice makes perfect Proud, happy.

Task: fill in a ‘thought form’ worksheet for yourself…


( use common hypotheticals – no need to ‘share’!  - form and flip chart)

Thought: I think… Feeling: Therefore, I feel…

Extract from CBTandFeelingGood workbook Page 2 of 3


Let’s go a little further and look at examples that identify thinking, the emotions the thoughts cause,
and the consequential behaviours:

• Thinking that you are not very good at talking with people may
make you feel very worried or anxious when you are out in
social situations. You may go quiet and not interact.
• Thinking that no one likes you may make you feel depressed.
You may stay at home on your own.
• Thinking that you never get things right may make you feel
angry with yourself. You may give up trying because ‘what’s
the point?’.
• Thinking that it’s all the rotten world’s fault that you have to
downsize may make you feel aggressive. You may be short
tempered and unreasonable.

Task: fill in a ‘Thinking that… may make you feel… you may…’ worksheet
(work in pairs, form and flip chart)

Thinking that… May make you feel… You may…

Proceed to further exercises…..

Extract from CBTandFeelingGood workbook Page 3 of 3

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