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Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring is a therapeutic technique developed in the 1950s where distressed individuals learn to identify, challenge, and modify stress-inducing thought patterns. It involves 6 steps: pausing when upset, identifying the trigger, noticing automatic thoughts, rating the emotional reaction, generating alternative thoughts, and re-rating the emotion. Strategies include self-monitoring thoughts, questioning assumptions through Socratic questioning, gathering evidence, performing cost-benefit analyses of thoughts, and generating alternatives. Cognitive restructuring helps people think more clearly, break bad mental habits, and gain a sense of control over thoughts. It has been used to treat disorders like depression and anxiety.

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Tuba Jadoon
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273 views

Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring is a therapeutic technique developed in the 1950s where distressed individuals learn to identify, challenge, and modify stress-inducing thought patterns. It involves 6 steps: pausing when upset, identifying the trigger, noticing automatic thoughts, rating the emotional reaction, generating alternative thoughts, and re-rating the emotion. Strategies include self-monitoring thoughts, questioning assumptions through Socratic questioning, gathering evidence, performing cost-benefit analyses of thoughts, and generating alternatives. Cognitive restructuring helps people think more clearly, break bad mental habits, and gain a sense of control over thoughts. It has been used to treat disorders like depression and anxiety.

Uploaded by

Tuba Jadoon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tuba

Cognitive restructuring

Definition

Cognitive restructuring is a group of therapeutic techniques that help people notice and
change their negative thinking patterns.

 Cognitive restructuring, also known as cognitive reframing, is a technique that can help
people identify, challenge and alter stress-inducing thought patterns and beliefs.

Goal

The main objective of cognitive restructuring is to enable stressed individuals to replace


negative thought or habits with more positive ones.

Developer

This technique was developed in the 1950s by a renowned psychologist called Albert Ellis,
and forms a core component of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Explanation

Man is troubled, not by events, but by the meaning he gives to them ~ Epictetus (55-135AD)

Cognitive restructuring, also referred to as cognitive reframing is a therapeutic technique


where distressed people learn how to identify, challenge, evaluate, and modify stress-
inducing thought patterns, and automatic beliefs that are considered responsible for damaging
behaviors and psychological disturbance. Cognitive distortions often lead to depression,
anxiety, relationship problems, and self-defeating behaviors.

EXAMPLE

Some examples of cognitive distortions include:

 black-and-white thinking

 catastrophizing
 overgeneralizing

 personalizing

How to Do Cognitive Restructuring: A Step-by-Step Plan

6 basic steps to follow in order to do Cognitive Restructuring.

Step 1: Hit the pause button.

Use sudden, strong emotion as a cue or reminder to “hit the pause button” . Then, once
you’ve briefly paused, ask yourself: What’s going on here?

Step 2: Identify the trigger.

Once you’ve used sudden, strong emotion as a cue to pause, the next step is to identify what
event triggered your response in the first place.

Step 3: Notice your automatic thoughts.

Automatic Thoughts are our default, initial interpretations of what happens to us. They’re
almost always spontaneous .It’s important to become more aware of our automatic thoughts

Step 4: Identify your emotional reaction and note how intense it is

The type and intensity of the emotions we experience depend almost on the type of thinking
we engage in.For each emotion identified, rate how intense it was on a scale from 1-10.

Step 5: Generate alternative thoughts.

Once you’ve identified a trigger, noticed your Automatic Thoughts about that trigger, and
taken note of your emotional reaction, the next step is to come up with alternative thoughts
for each of your initial, Automatic Thoughts.

Step 6: Re-rate the intensity of your emotional response.

After generating multiple alternative thoughts, return to your emotion(s) you identified in
Step 4 and reassess their intensity. Almost always, they will have gone down at least
modestly as a function of questioning your automatic thoughts and generating alternative
and more realistic ones.

Cognitive restructuring techniques

Some of the strategies involved in cognitive restructuring are

 Self-monitoring

Cognitive restructuring depends on your ability to notice the thoughts that spark negative
feelings and states of mind. It’s also useful to notice when and where the thoughts come up..
Knowing that vulnerability exists can help you catch your negative thought and change it
before it gets the better of you.

 Questioning your assumptions

Another essential part of cognitive restructuring is learning how to question your thoughts
and assumptions, especially those that seem to get in the way of living a productive life. A
therapist can teach you how to use a Socratic questioning method to find out where and how
your automatic thoughts are biased or illogical.

Some questions you might ask include:

 Is this thought based on emotion or facts?

 What evidence is there that this thought is accurate?

 What’s the worst that could happen?

 Gathering evidence

Cognitive distortions are biased and inaccurate, but they can also be deeply embedded.
Dislodging and replacing them requires evidence about how rational they are. You may need
to list facts that show a belief is accurate.

 Performing a cost-benefit analysis


Using this strategy, you would consider the advantages and disadvantages of maintaining a
certain cognitive distortion.

You could ask yourself:

 What does this thought pattern cost you emotionally and practically?

 What are the long-term effects?

 How does this thought pattern affect the people around you?

 How does it advance or limit your job performance?

Seeing the pros and cons side by side can help you decide whether it’s worth changing the
pattern.

 Generating alternatives 

Cognitive restructuring helps people find new ways of looking at the things that happen to
them. Part of the practice involves coming up with alternative explanations that are rational
and positive to replace the distortions that have been adopted over time.

How Cognitive Restructuring works / Benefits

Cognitive Restructuring works by encouraging us to do several very helpful things when


we’re upset and trying to break free from negative thinking patterns:

 It helps us get organized mentally.  Cognitive Restructuring helps us feel better by


getting our mental space better organized.
 It helps us be more aware.  Cognitive Restructuring helps us notice and become
more aware of our mental habits, which is an essential step in eventually modifying
them.
 It gives us a sense of agency and control. By noticing our default thinking patterns
we change negative thoughts from something uncontrollable.
 It helps us think more clearly and rationally. Cognitive Restructuring helps us to
see errors or mistakes in the way we’re thinking.
 It breaks bad mental habits. . Cognitive Restructuring forces us to notice bad
mental habits and replace them with better ones

Uses

It has been identified by therapists as an effective treatment approach for psychological


disorders like

 eating disorders

 depression

 anxiety

 PTSD

 substance use disorder

 mental illness

 marital problems

It can also help you navigate difficult transitions like divorce, a serious illness, or the loss of a
loved one.

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