Negative thinking patterns
Many upsetting thoughts come in a small number of familiar shapes. David Burns counted 10 of them in 1980, and each one has its own guide here, with examples, the research behind it and a way to work on it.1 The tools are free, and the thought record runs in your browser without saving or sending anything.
Start here
If a thought is bothering you right now, open the thought record. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes, and you can stop at any step.
To understand the shapes first, read cognitive distortions. If the thought starts with "what if", go to worry time instead.
In this section
- CBT worksheetsFree CBT worksheets to print or fill in: a thought record, a worry log with check dates, a behavioral experiment sheet and a cognitive distortions list.
- Thought recordFill in a CBT thought record online, free, with no sign-up. It stays on your device. Includes a worked example and a different path for worries.
- All-or-nothing thinkingAll-or-nothing thinking sorts life into success or failure, nothing between. Examples from diets, training and home, what research links it to, and what helps.
- Automatic thoughtsAutomatic thoughts are the quick lines your mind says before you choose a word. What they sound like, the myth about 60,000 a day, and how to catch one.
- Behavioral activationBehavioral activation is a CBT method for low mood: plan small activities that matter to you and do them before you feel like it. Steps and evidence.
- Behavioral experimentsA behavioral experiment tests a belief by doing something and comparing what happens with your prediction. Steps, examples by type, and the research.
- CatastrophizingCatastrophizing is leaping to the worst outcome and treating it as likely. Everyday examples, why minds do it, and how to test the fear against what happens.
- CBT vs DBTDBT is a form of CBT built by Marsha Linehan for intense emotions and self-harm. How they differ, what the trials show for each, and how to choose.
- Cognitive distortionsThe 10 cognitive distortions from CBT, each with an everyday example, what the studies do and don't show, and a thought record to try one on.
- Cognitive restructuringCognitive restructuring is the CBT skill of catching a thought, checking it and finding a fuller view. Steps, an example, and what the research says.
- Core beliefsCore beliefs are the deepest beliefs you hold about yourself, others and the world. Examples, what a study of 1,813 people found, and slow ways they change.
- Disqualifying the positiveDisqualifying the positive means noticing something good and explaining it away. Examples, research on dampening good moods, and a daily log that helps.
- The downward arrow techniqueThe downward arrow is a CBT question you repeat to find the belief under a painful thought. The exact wording, an example, when to stop and what to do next.
- Emotional reasoningEmotional reasoning treats a feeling as evidence: I feel scared, so it must be dangerous. Examples, the experiment behind it, and how to separate the two.
- Jumping to conclusionsJumping to conclusions is deciding what something means without the facts. Mind reading and fortune telling, with examples and a way to check each one.
- LabelingLabeling turns one mistake into a verdict on the whole person: I'm an idiot. Examples, research on shame and guilt, and how to swap a label for what happened.
- Mental filterA mental filter picks out one bad detail and lets it color the whole day. Examples, research on why bad weighs more than good, and steps to see the rest.
- OvergeneralizationOvergeneralization turns one bad event into an always or never rule. Examples from dating, job hunting and family, why it hits mood, and how to shrink the rule.
- PersonalizationPersonalization is seeing yourself as the cause of things you didn't control, or taking others' moods personally. Examples, research, and a responsibility pie.
- Should statementsShould statements are rigid rules for yourself and others. Everyday examples, what research says about standards and self-criticism, and how to loosen one.
- Socratic questioningSocratic questions help you examine a thought and find your own answer. Padesky's four stages, questions to ask yourself, and what the research shows.
- What is CBT?What CBT is, what a session looks like, what the research says it helps and where it falls short, how it differs from DBT, and how to find a CBT therapist.
- Worry timeWorry time means saving worries for one set slot a day instead of fighting them. How to do it, what to do in the slot, and what 7 trials found.
Find it by what's happening
You don't need the name of a pattern. Start from what's going on:
- Three good hours at last night's party, and the one awkward joke is the only part that keeps replaying as you try to fall asleep: mental filter.
- A text has gone unanswered for an hour and you're picturing the hospital: catastrophizing.
- Mind reading: jumping to conclusions.
- One slip and the whole day, or diet, or week is "ruined": all-or-nothing thinking.
- "I should be over this": should statements.
- It's all your fault: personalization.
- One mistake has turned into "I'm an idiot": labeling.
- It's 2 a.m. and the worries won't wait: worry time.
A thought, or a worry?
How you feel about a moment depends partly on how you read it, and Aaron Beck built cognitive therapy on noticing those readings and checking them against the facts.2
Checking doesn't mean arguing yourself into a good mood. It means looking.
What kind of checking helps depends on the thought, and the split that matters most is whether it's about something that has already happened or something that might.
- About yourself or something that already happened: Weigh what fits the thought and what doesn't, in the thought record.
- A worry about what might happen: Write down the outcome you fear and a date, then check what happened.
The second kind has early research behind it, which the worry time page goes through. If you're in therapy, the CBT worksheets print both.
Which showed up more this week: a thought about something that already happened, or a worry about what might? Write down one of each.
Answer this with Joy