Understanding and Dealing with Automatic Thoughts

Cognitive Behavior Therapy identifies the mastering of automatic thoughts as key for overcoming anxiety, depression and even anger issues.  A key idea is that all the thoughts that pop into your brain are not really your mature and realistic thought processes.  Your initial thoughts provide options, but it is vital to your mental well-being that you evaluate and choose to hold onto thoughts that are beneficial.  When we are stuck, we tend to automatically accept our initial thoughts as true without questioning the validity, and then faulty thoughts have a great influence on our emotions and our behaviors, sabotaging our personal well-being and our relationships.  To overcome this it is important to become adept at understanding and dealing with your automatic thoughts.  

Watch the video to learn how automatic thoughts contribute to anxiety.  Questions 1-6 below are basic comprehension questions to help you identify some key concepts from the video.  Questions 7-11 are application questions that can help you begin to deal with your own automatic thoughts. 

Happy Thinking!

Questions:

1. What happens to people who get caught in cycles of automatic negative thinking?

2. Give an example of an automatic thought for each of the following categories of cognitive distortion:

• Assuming or Mind-Reading
• Shoulds, musts & oughts
• The Fairy Tale Fantasy
• Overgeneralizing
• Catastrophizing

3. How do you stop Automatic Thoughts?

4. What are the 3 Rs you can use to control automatic thoughts

5. If it is hard to think of a good response to your own automatic thought, what should you do?

6. Why do you think people can think of a good response to the overgeneralizing thought of a friend, but not to your own overgeneralizing thought?

Application: 

7. What automatic thoughts do you experience? 

8. What emotion are they related to (fear, anger, sadness)?  

9. In what circumstances do you find yourself experiencing a lot of automatic thoughts?

10. What cognitive distortion do you see yourself using?

11. What can your replace this cognitive distortion with?