MSU Psychology Automatic Thoughts Question

1.Over the next few days, start trying to monitor and write down some of your automatic thoughts when you feel annoyed, irritated, or stressed.You’ll know you’re probably having automatic thoughts if you feel any powerful negative emotion.I’d like you to avoid writing about feelings or situations that are hugely significant or traumatic for you.We want this to be helpful for you, not upsetting and dysregulating when you’re trying to focus and succeed in the tough end of the semester.Certainly, if you find the assignment to be helpful, you can keep doing it as a form of self-therapy later.Use the four-column Daily Thought Record (illustrated below) to record your thoughts.

2.After you seem to be better at identifying your thoughts (hopefully after 2-3 days), start trying to figure out whether they are rational or not.Combat irrational thoughts and write your ‘rational comeback’ down on the worksheet.You’ll find lots of suggestions for fighting irrational thoughts on the next pages, under ‘Rational Comebacks for Selected Cognitive Distortions.’Strive to identify and then battle at least 10 different automatic thoughts throughout the week.Keep at it for the full 7 days, even if you have 10 irrational thoughts after the first day! I’m sure you’ll be in good company! J

Writing Assignment:

1.First, you will need to turn in/type up your worksheet or thoughts journal.(2 pts)

2.Second, write up a paper answering the following questions:

a.How easy or difficult was it for you to identify your automatic thoughts?Are 

there any additional instructions you would need to give if doing this assignment 

with a client? (2 pts)

b.Summarize the types of situations in which you felt annoyed, stressed, etc.

What kinds of automatic thoughts were associated with these situations? (3 pts)

c.Was it effective to think about rational comebacks?Did your mood change?

Why or why not? (3 pts)

d.How helpful do you think keeping a thoughts journal might be for clients in treatment?What type of client do you think might find it most helpful? (2 pts)

DTR Model & Example

Emotion

Thought

Situation

Comeback

Depression

I’ll never get all this   done.My life sucks!

Too much work in one week.No time to do anything fun.

This is just one week in my   life.My whole life isn’t “sucky.”I can   get everything done and still have time for myself if I plan my time out   carefully.

Rational Comebacks for Selected Cognitive Distortions

1.Filtering:Having ‘tunnel vision.’You look at only one aspect of the situation and ignore everything else.By pulling negative things out of context, you ‘awfulize’ or make things seem worse than they really are.

Rational Comebacks:

a.Stop obsessing about the problem and focus instead on something else.For instance, focus on what is going right instead of wrong.Find instances that go against your automatic thoughts.

b.Banish phrases that magnify the problem.Don’t use words such as awful, terrible, etc.  And don’t allow yourself to say things like, “I can’t stand it.”History shows we humans can stand just about anything!

2.Polarized or dichotomous thinking:Thinking in extremes.People are good or bad, wonderful or horrible.The major problem with this is that you aren’t being realistic, and you’re probably being very hard on yourself.

Rational Comebacks:

a.Stop yourself when you notice extreme descriptions of events or people.No one person is smart or stupid all the time, for example.Start thinking in more complex ways.e.g., “OK, what I did wasn’t so smart, but usually I do just fine.Let me think about why I did a stupid thing and see if I can learn from my mistakes.” 

b.Use percentages, if you must, to drive the point home.For example, “I did a stupid thing, but I only do stupid things maybe 5 % of the time.The other 95% I do smart, reasonable things.So who cares about the 5%?! No one’s perfect.”

3.Overgeneralization:You make broad, generalized conclusions based on a single piece of evidence.In other words, you jump to conclusions, usually hugely and erroneously.

Rational Comebacks: 

a.Banish words such as always, every, all, none, never, everybody, and nobody.If you’re using these words, you’re exaggerating or thinking in extremes.e.g., No, you don’t always get stuck in traffic every time you drive. 

b.Think about instances that aren’t true, the more evidence against your distorted though the better.For example, “Yesterday I didn’t get stuck in traffic, or the day before. ”

4.Mind reading:You make snap judgements, based on little evidence, about others.Additionally, you believe others are making negative judgements about you.In essence, you are projecting by imagining that everyone else feels and experiences things as you do.

Rational Comebacks:

a.Believe what people tell you about what they think or feel.

b.If you have nagging thoughts about what they might think or feel, test these out as hypotheses.Either ask the person directly, or figure out what other evidence you have and how strong it is in support (or against) your hypothesis.

5.Catastrophizing:You assume disaster or catastrophe is about to strike.Catastrophizing frequently starts with, “What if…” questions.There are no limits to how bad it could possibly be or how many things can go wrong for a true catastrophizer.

Rational Comebacks:

a.Look at the odds of the disaster occurring.e.g., “How realistic is it that Dad will hate me forever for getting lower grades than he achieved?More than likely, the odds are less than 1 out of 100 he would hate me forever.”

6.Fallacy of fairness:You assume that things would be different, if only people really treated you fairly or what you are worth.This leads to resentment, since your rules of what’s fair aren’t necessarily the same as anyone else’s.

Rational Comebacks:

a.Think about the situation in terms of what you want or prefer.How can it really be true that what you want is the only fair way to go and what the other person wants is bogus?Be honest with yourself and the other person about what you prefer, and drop the word “fair” out of your vocabulary.

7.Blaming:You assume someone else is responsible for your problems, meaning you don’t take responsibility to do things differently yourself.Alternatively, you ‘beat yourself up,’ concluding it’s all your fault.

Rational Comebacks:

a.Take responsibility for your own needs and happiness.No one else can be completely to blame if you, a responsible adult, are unhappy.Figure out what your needs are, communicate them to others involved, and if they can’t be met, revise them or go elsewhere.Remember other people can’t read your mind to know what you want or need.

b.Don’t turn the blame on yourself and attack yourself unmercifully.You can take responsibility for mistakes without awfulizing about what a terrible person you are.

8.Shoulds:You apply rules to yourself and others that are ‘right,’ and therefore indisputable.Shoulds make you often end up judging yourself and others much too harshly.

Rational Comebacks: 

a.Don’t allow yourself to use words such as should, ought, or must.There are always exceptions to every rule.Think of at least three exceptions when it would be OK to violate your supposedly inflexible rule.e.g.,“OK, so I feel if my girlfriend really cared about me, she’d make time to see me every day.Well, what if she had two exams the next day and didn’t think she could spare the distraction?What if she were sick?What if I were going out with the guys that night?I wouldn’t expect to see her that evening.”

b.Remember that your rules, expectations, and values are yours and yours alone.While you’re entitled to an opinion, you could be wrong.Or, at least, just because another person doesn’t hold the same rule or value, are they necessarily wrong?Conclude they are different from you, not wrong.