Reframing Negative Thoughts

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Identify and give examples of the 10 most common unhelpful thinking styles.

• Challenge unhelpful or negative thoughts.

• Reframe negative thoughts into balanced thoughts.

Unhelpful Thinking Styles

Unhelpful thinking styles describe negative thoughts that people often have without even realizing it. These unhelpful thinking styles can make you feel anxious or depressed. By learning about the different unhelpful thinking styles, you can begin to challenge negative thoughts and reduce your anxiety.

This table includes the most common unhelpful thinking styles. Everyone has unhelpful thoughts sometimes. Do you ever experience some of these thinking styles and patterns?

• Black and White Thinking

  Description text goes here

• Over Generalization

  Description text goes here

• Mental Filter

  Description text goes here

• Disqualifying the Positive

  Item description

• Jumping to Conclusions

  Item description

• Magnification and Minimization

  Item description

• Emotional Reasoning

  Item description

• Should and Must Thinking

  Item description

• Labelling

  Item description

• Personalization

  Item description

Identifying Negative Thinking

When you have a negative or upsetting thought, try to take a step back and see if you can identify any of the unhelpful thinking styles. Ask yourself questions like:

• Am I thinking in black and white and using words like “always”or “never”?

• Am I jumping to conclusions?

• Am I labelling myself?

• Am I only focusing on my weaknesses and ignoring my strengths?

• Am I placing unreasonable demands on myself and using words like “should” or “must”

• Am I blaming myself for a situation that I do not have control over?

Challenging and Reframing Negative Thoughts

There are two main strategies you can use to challenge and reframe negative thoughts.

1. Using Evidence

• During stressful times, people’s emotions and opinions fuel one another and create a vicious cycle. You can lower your level of distress by realizing that some thoughts are opinions, rather than facts. Ask yourself if you are confusing a fact with an opinion. A fact is indisputable and based in rational thought. An opinion is arguable and driven by a personal view or emotion.

• Ask yourself what evidence you have that supports your negative thought. Remember that only facts, not opinions, count as evidence.

• Ask yourself what evidence you have that goes against your negative thought. Are there any small things that contradict your thought?

2. Identifying Alternative Perspectives

To reframe negative thoughts, it can be helpful to identify alternative perspectives. Try asking yourself the following questions:

• “If my best friend was having this thought, what would I say to them?”

• “Do I have any experiences that indicate this thought is not completely true all of the time?”

• “Is this thought helpful?”

• “What are the chances of this thought coming true?”

• “Could there be any other thoughts besides this one?”

• “Five years from now, if I look back on this situation, would I look at it differently?”

Using Coping Statements

When you identify, challenge, and reframe negative thoughts, you will often come up with balanced coping statements. It can be useful to remind yourself of your coping statements during times when you feel too anxious to challenge a negative thought. Think about what you might like to tell yourself when you are feeling anxious.

For example:

• “No one can predict the future, so I shouldn’t try to.”

• “Making one mistake does not mean that I am worthless.”

• “Even if I make a mistake, I am still a good spouse.”

• “Just because I feel bad now, doesn’t mean that something bad will happen.”