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Module 6

Unhelpful Thinking Styles

Unhelpful Thinking
Mental Filter

Jumping to Conclusions

Personalisation

Catastrophising

Black & White Thinking

Shoulding & Musting

Overgeneralisation

Labelling

10

Emotional Reasoning

11

Magnification & Minimisation

12

Module Summary

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Unhelpful Thinking Styles

When a person experiences an unhelpful emotion (eg, depression or anxiety), it is usually preceded by a
number of unhelpful self-statements and thoughts. Often there is a pattern to such thoughts and we call
these, "unhelpful thinking styles". One of the things we have noticed is that people use unhelpful thinking
styles as an automatic habit. It is something that happens out of our awareness. However, when a person
consistently and constantly uses some of these styles of thinking, they can often cause themselves a great
deal of emotional distress.
We are now going to describe a range of unhelpful thinking styles. A summary of all the styles are provided
on this page, with further details on each style provided on subsequent pages. It might be a little too much
to read everything at once, so perhaps you might want to read through this page and then choose one or
two to read in detail. Can you identify any thinking patterns and styles that you often use?
Mental Filter
This thinking styles involves a "filtering in" and
"filtering out" process a sort of "tunnel vision,"
focusing on only one part of a situation and
ignoring the rest. Usually this means looking at
the negative parts of a situation and forgetting
the positive parts, and the whole picture is
coloured by what may be a single negative detail.

Jumping to Conclusions
We jump to conclusions when we assume that
we know what someone else is thinking (mind
reading) and when we make predictions about
what is going to happen in the future (predictive
thinking).
Personalisation
This involves blaming yourself for everything that
goes wrong or could go wrong, even when you
may only be partly responsible or not
responsible at all. You might be taking 100%
responsibility for the occurrence of external
events.
Catastrophising
Catastrophising occurs when we blow things
out of proportion., and we view the situation as
terrible, awful, dreadful, and horrible, even
though the reality is that the problem itself is
quite small.
Black & White Thinking
This thinking style involves seeing only one
extreme or the other. You are either wrong or
right, good or bad and so on. There are no inbetweens or shades of gray.

Shoulding and Musting

Sometimes by saying I should or I must
you can put unreasonable demands or pressure
on yourself and others. Although these
statements are not always unhelpful (eg I should
not get drunk and drive home), they can
sometimes create unrealistic expectations.
Overgeneralisation
When we overgeneralise, we take one instance
in the past or present, and impose it on all
current or future situations. If we say You
always or Everyone, or I never then
we are probably overgeneralising.
Labelling
We label ourselves and others when we make
global statements based on behaviour in specific
situations. We might use this label even though
there are many more examples that arent
consistent with that label.
Emotional Reasoning
This thinking style involves basing your view of
situations or yourself on the way you are feeling.
For example, the only evidence that something
bad is going to happen is that you feel like
something bad is going to happen.
Magnification and Minimisation
In this thinking style, you magnify the positive
attributes of other people and minimise your
own positive attributes. Its as though youre
explaining away your own positive characteristics
or achievements as though theyre not important

Note: Some of these styles might sound similar to one another. They are not meant to be distinct categories but to
help you see if there is a kind of pattern to your thoughts. Just choose a few that might be most relevant to you.

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Unhelpful Thinking Styles: More Details

1. Mental Filter (Selective Abstraction)
This is a "filtering in" and "filtering out" process. You can think of a mental filter as a sort of "tunnel vision" focusing on only one part of a situation and ignoring the rest. Usually this means looking at the negative
parts of a situation and forgetting the positive parts.
Here is an example:
Maybe you are out with your partner having a romantic dinner, and at the end of dinner you have a
disagreement about whether to leave a tip or not. Perhaps you stew on this disagreement in the car all the
way home. What do you think the effect of this thinking style will have on the way you feel?
Notice that in this example you are dwelling on a single detail out of the many details that occurred during
the entire night. Notice that the detail you are dwelling on happens to be negative. You have excluded
other details of the whole picture, which means that you are not remembering all the other positive
experiences of the night. If you focus on this negative bit, then it is likely that you'll keep experiencing the
negative feelings that go along with it.
This process also happens with the way we remember things. All the memories of our life experiences are
stored in our brains. Have you ever thought of what would happen if we remembered everything all at
once? Wed be pretty overwhelmed! It is natural that mental filtering occurs when we try to remember
things. However, research has shown that when a person is depressed, they often remember events that
are associated with negative unhelpful feelings. If they keep dwelling on these memories, how do you think
they would feel?

Can you think of a situation

where you used this thinking
style?

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What were the thoughts that went

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Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

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2. Jumping to Conclusions
Most of us would have heard the phrase Youre jumping to conclusions! meaning that a conclusion is
being made without really knowing if there is any evidence to support it. Although we might like to think
that if we have a hunch about something it is usually right, there are times when we are not right. There
are times that we keep jumping to the wrong conclusion, or the conclusions are usually negative. When
we do this consistently then we can cause ourselves quite a bit of distress. There are two ways in which
we often jump to conclusions mind reading and predictive thinking.

Mind reading
As the name suggests, this is where we jump to conclusions because we assume that we know what
someone else is thinking, or we know the rationale behind someone else's behaviours. This happens to be
a very common style of thinking.
Have you ever had this experience? You are talking to someone, and during the conversation they look at
their watch? Perhaps youve thought, They must think Im a really boring person, or "they don't want to
be here with me." If you jumped to these conclusions without looking closely at all the evidence, such as
the fact that the person is expecting an important phone call soon, do you think youd end up feeling happy
or distressed? Let's try another example: Your boss asks to see you. You instantly assume you know why
she wants the meeting, "She's going to tell me that I'm not good enough for this job" or , "she's upset with
the way I am doing things." If you believed your interpretation, which has been based on your mind
reading, would you be happy or anxious?
Often these conclusions are a reflection of how we think about ourselves, eg, "I think I'm boring", "I think
I'm not good enough", "I always do things wrong". Often we jump to the conclusion that because we think
poorly of ourselves, then others must too.
Can you think of a situation
where you used this thinking
style?

What were the thoughts that

went through your mind?

What feelings did you experience

consequent to your thinking?

Predictive thinking
We can also jump to conclusions when we begin making predictions about what is going to happen on
some future occasion. This is a very common way to increase anxiety and stress. These are often
predictions where you overestimate the negative emotions or experiences you are going to encounter.
Think through this example with us. Someone has asked you to give a talk to a group of people, you might
think Im going to get in there and forget what Im supposed to say, stumble over my words, and
completely stuff up the presentation, and this will be terrible. You believe this despite the fact that you
have delivered many successful presentations in the past. How might you feel if you believe this
overprediction?
Can you think of a situation
where you used this thinking
style?

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What were the thoughts that

went through your mind?

Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

What feelings did you experience

consequent to your thinking?

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3. Personalisation
Can you think of some occasions when something hasnt gone quite as you wanted, or the way you
expected, and youve blamed yourself totally for whats happened? The toast burns at breakfast, and you
blame yourself not the toaster, your child plays a wrong note at a concert, and you blame yourself for not
making him practice harder. Without realising it, you relate external negative events to something you
have or have not done.
When you personalise something, you take total responsibility for external events occurring, and ignoring
other important factors. As a consequence you end up blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong or
that could go wrong - even when you may only be partly responsible, or not responsible at all. If you were
to consistently say to yourself, This is my fault, Im to blame how do you think youd start to feel?
Carrying 100% of the responsibility is a rather large burden to bear, and one thats likely to leave you
feeling discouraged or overwhelmed.

Can you think of a situation

where you used this thinking
style?

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Psychotherapy Research Training

What were the thoughts that went

through your mind?

Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

What feelings did you experience

consequent to your thinking?

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4. Catastrophising
When someone says youre blowing things out of proportion, or youre making a mountain out of a
molehill, chances are the person is catastrophising. This style of automatic thinking often begins with the
following phrases; "What if !!!" or "Oh no "

Let's try some examples.

"Oh my God I have a chest pain I might be having a heart attack"
"What if I disagree with my partner on this .. I will lose an important relationship"
I felt depressed this morning, "What if I stay depressed?"
All of these examples get at the essence of this unhelpful thinking style that the person
views the situation as terrible, awful, dreadful and horrible. Notice the appearance of other
unhelpful thinking styles a bit of predictive thinking and a bit of jumping to conclusions.
Let's look at this final example. Have you ever submitted a project, perhaps at work, and then realised that
youd made a small error? You might think I cant believe I made that mistake. This is going to be a poor
submission, Im going to lose the account and probably lose my job. Ill probably never find work in this city
again! What do you think it would be like for someone with this style of thinking? Even though the reality
is that the problem itself is quite small, when we catastrophise, things can get very big very quickly, and we
can work ourselves up to a point where it all seems beyond our control.

Can you think of a situation

where you used this thinking
style?

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What were the thoughts that went

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Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

What feelings did you experience

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5. Black & White Thinking

When it comes to sports, you may have heard some people say There are no second places, there is only
one winner and the rest are losers as if being the second best in the world is nothing to be proud of. Or
think of the student who doesnt get straight As, and thinks that they are a failure. Perhaps youve said
something similar to yourself, If my partner and I dont always agree, then we have a bad relationship, or
If Im not the best at what I do, then Im worthless.
We call this all-or-nothing thinking, or black-and-white thinking because you will tend to see only one
extreme or the other. With this thinking, you are right or wrong, you are good or bad - there are no inbetweens, no shades of grey, and no middle ground.

Can you think of a situation

where you used this thinking
style?

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Psychotherapy Research Training

What were the thoughts that went

through your mind?

Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

What feelings did you experience

consequent to your thinking?

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6. 'Shoulding' and 'Musting'

It is quite common in everyday language to hear people use I should, and I must statements. It is not
necessarily unhelpful to think, "I should get my work in on time", it only becomes unhelpful when you use
"should" and "must" statements to put unreasonable demands or pressure on yourself.
We might say I should always get things right, or I must never get upset with my partner, or "I should
always cook exquisite meals." How do you think someone would feel after making these kinds of
statements over and over again? Chances are, theyll feel guilty or disappointed in themselves.
We may also use these types of statements when we are talking about other people She should know
better than that, People should always keep their promises, People shouldnt get angry at others. You
might have guessed that these kinds of statements leave us feeling frustrated or angry and disappointed in
others.

Can you think of a situation

where you used this thinking
style?

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Psychotherapy Research Training

What were the thoughts that went

through your mind?

Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

What feelings did you experience

consequent to your thinking?

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7. Overgeneralisation
The key element in this unhelpful thinking style is to take one instance in the here and now, and to impose
this on all future situations.
Perhaps youve said to yourself in the past This is just so typical! telling yourself that this is how things
always are, or everyones like that, or "things never turn out well for me", when, in fact, there are only a
few examples to go by. Making broad, generalised and global conclusions on the basis of only a little
evidence can leave us thinking that things are really uncontrollable, inevitable and out of our hands. A
sense of helplessness often accompanies such overgeneralisations. If you think about personal relationships,
you might notice a few overgeneralisations. Have you ever said, or heard, something like, You never do
anything romantic for me, or I always have to take out the garbage, or Everyone keeps having a go at
me, or Every night I come home, those kids have always left a mess!
Notice that these unhelpful thinking styles often include words like, "all", "never", "always" and "every",
when, in most cases, the always and never are not as solid as we might think they are. How do you
think people would feel if they used this thinking style? They may feel frustrated, discouraged, depressed, or
annoyed, amongst other things.
Can you think of a situation
where you used this thinking
style?

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What were the thoughts that went

through your mind?

Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

What feelings did you experience

consequent to your thinking?

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8. Labelling
You can probably think of times when youve bumped something off the table, or dropped a glass while
washing the dishes and perhaps thought to yourself, Im such an idiot! Or perhaps a friend doesnt call
you to say they cant make it to your birthday party and you think, They are so inconsiderate. Its a little
like overgeneralising about people. When we make global statements about ourselves or other people,
which are based on behaviour in specific situations, then we are labelling. The
problem is, that by defining a person by one specific behaviour - and - usually one
that we consider negative, we ignore the other positive characteristics and
actions. When you step back from the situation and take a closer look, you might
realise that breaking a glass doesnt mean that youre an idiot, and the fact that
you are competent in your job, or can communicate effectively with your family,
might suggest otherwise. Similarly, your friend may have acted kind and
considerate at other times, but something may have prevented them from calling.

Can you think of a situation

where you used this thinking
style?

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Psychotherapy Research Training

What were the thoughts that went

through your mind?

Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

What feelings did you experience

consequent to your thinking?

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9. Emotional Reasoning
This is a style of unhelpful thinking where you base your view of situations, yourself, or others on the way
you are feeling. Have you ever felt anxious about something and thought to yourself, "I know this isn't
going to work out well" and everything turned out just fine? If you have, its likely that you were using
emotional reasoning. In this case, we tend to take our emotions as being evidence for the truth. For
example, you might be walking down the street and think I feel anxious, I know something dangerous is
going to happen, or I feel so depressed, this must be the worst place to work in. Its like were saying to
ourselves I feel, therefore it is - rather than looking at what real evidence there may be. There might be
no other evidence to suggest that something dangerous might happen, or that it is the worst place to work
in. The only evidence you have is how you feel.
Can you think of a situation
where you used this thinking
style?

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Psychotherapy Research Training

What were the thoughts that went

through your mind?

Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

What feelings did you experience

consequent to your thinking?

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10.

Magnification and Minimisation

This is the binocular effect on thinking. Often it means that you enlarge (magnify) the positive attributes of
other people and shrink (minimise) your own attributes, just like looking at the world through either end of
the same pair of binoculars. Disqualifying your own attributes for achievement has negative effects.
Think of the times in your own life where you might have said, or heard others say, Oh, that doesnt
count, I was just lucky, or They dont really mean it, they were just being polite. In this way you might
water down positive experiences, and even transform them into negative ones. Its as though youre being
so humble youre putting yourself down.

Can you think of a situation

where you used this thinking
style?

What were the thoughts that went

through your mind?

What feelings did you experience

consequent to your thinking?

Turtle Tip
Dont be hard on
yourself if you find
that your thinking
reflects one or more
of these styles. Being
able to recognise it
is the first step
towards changing it.

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Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

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Module Summary

Often, there is a trend or a pattern to negative and unhelpful thoughts and this can be
considered as unhelpful thinking styles

These thinking styles are unhelpful because they often focus on the negative or inaccurate
part of reality

The following are summary descriptions of the 10 Unhelpful Thinking Styles contained in
this module:
1.

Mental Filter: A "filtering in" and "filtering out" process. A sort of "tunnel vision," focusing
on only one part of a situation and ignoring the rest. Usually this means looking at the
negative parts of a situation and forgetting the positive parts not seeing the whole picture.

2.

Jumping to Conclusions: Assuming that we know what someone else is thinking (mind
reading) and making predictions about what is going to happen in the future (predictive
thinking).

3.

Personalisation: Blaming yourself; taking 100% responsibility for the occurrence of

external events.

4.

Catastrophising: Blowing things out of proportion.

5.

Black & White Thinking: Seeing only one extreme or the other no in-betweens or
shades of gray.

6.

Shoulding and Musting: Making unreasonable demands or pressure on self or others.

7.

Overgeneralisation: Taking one instance in the past or present, and imposing it on all
current or future situations.

8.

Labelling: Making global statements about ourselves or others based on behaviour in

specific situations.

9.

Emotional Reasoning: Basing your view of situations or yourself on the way you are
feeling.

10. Magnification and Minimisation: Magnifying the positive attributes of other people and
minimising your own attributes.

In the next module we will

look at how you can
challenge your unhelpful
thoughts and thinking styles.

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Module 6: Unhelpful Thinking Styles

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