Reframing our negative thoughts

Anxiety can be a pervasive emotion inundating our thoughts and feelings. When anxiety becomes too much, it can lead to cognitive distortion, providing us with irrational thought patterns. These negative and illogical thought patterns can get us anxious about situations and scenarios before they happen. 


There are several types of cognitive distortions: 

• All or Nothing thinking: seeing everything as a success or failure binary
• Overgeneralization: coincidences mean something is always or never true
• Mental Filter: fixating on one incident and ignoring contradictions 
• Discounting the positive: disregarding positive experiences to justify harmful patterns 
• Jumping to Conclusions: making assumptions based on little or no evidence 
• Magnification: inappropriate or inaccurate emphasis on negative and positive behaviors or attributes 
• Emotional Reasoning: making conclusions based solely on emotion 
• Should Statements: idealizing unrealistic standards 
• Labeling: conflating what someone did with what type of person they are 
• Personalization/Blame: blaming self or others for an outcome that was not your fault or within your control 

When we experience cognitive distortion, what should we do? 
One technique is reframing. Reframing is used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as a technique to stop cognitive distortions. It is the habit of consciously changing how you feel during detrimental moments of cognitive distortions. Reframing allows us to grow and expand our mindset, creating a shift from negative to positive. 


How does cognitive reframing work?

• Identify your unique cognitive distortions: when you begin experiencing negative thoughts, point them out to yourself and stop mid-thought, reassess your assumptions, and come up with positive or neutral replacements for your negative thoughts
• Evaluate evidence of your distortions: write down your evidence that proves and disproves your thoughts 
• Practice compassion towards yourself: speak kindly to yourself.

Cognitive reframing can improve your mindset by focusing on positive thoughts and can lead to a long-term shift in your overall mood. If you are interested in reframing your cognitive distortion, reach out to one of our therapists! ​

Higgins, L. (2023, December 27). Cognitive reframing: Overcoming cognitive distortions with reframing. The Couch: A Therapy & Mental Wellness Blog. https://blog.zencare.co/cognitive-reframing-distortions/