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Thought Schema

The document outlines a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) framework for identifying and challenging automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) through various techniques, including the Downward Arrow Technique and the formulation of Balanced Alternative Thoughts (BATs). It emphasizes the importance of recognizing dysfunctional thinking habits and evaluating evidence for and against these thoughts. The ultimate goal is to help individuals modify their thoughts and behaviors by experiencing the credibility of their new beliefs in real-life situations.

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sanne
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3 views

Thought Schema

The document outlines a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) framework for identifying and challenging automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) through various techniques, including the Downward Arrow Technique and the formulation of Balanced Alternative Thoughts (BATs). It emphasizes the importance of recognizing dysfunctional thinking habits and evaluating evidence for and against these thoughts. The ultimate goal is to help individuals modify their thoughts and behaviors by experiencing the credibility of their new beliefs in real-life situations.

Uploaded by

sanne
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Thought Schema – CBT

Questions:

- Imagine the event as a movie and pause it at the moment right


before you felt the emotion most intensely.
- At what moment in that situation was the emotion strongest? How
strong was the emotion at that moment, on a scale from 0 to 100%?
- … What did you want to do at that moment but didn’t?
- … What did you do at that moment that you now wish you hadn’t
done?

Identifying Automatic Thoughts:

- What went through your mind just before you started feeling that
way?
- What went through your mind just before you started behaving that
way?
- What led you to do that?
- What thought stopped you from doing what you had planned to do?
- What else came up in your mind, besides X [previous thought], that
made you feel … [name emotion]?
- Which thought contributed most to the problematic feeling?

(Dysfunctional) Thinking Habits:

- Dichotomous or black-and-white thinking


- Catastrophizing or predicting disaster
- Emotional reasoning
- Labeling or placing “stickers” on yourself or others
- Selective abstraction or mental filtering
- Mind-reading
- Overgeneralization
- Personalization
- “Should” thinking
- Overestimating probabilities
- Negative thinking
- Low frustration tolerance
- Double standards or measuring with two scales
- Magnification and minimization

Downward Arrow Technique:


- Suppose what you fear happens—what would happen next?
- If this thought were true, what would happen?
- What is the worst thing that could happen if this were true?
- Suppose this happens, what does that mean for you?
- Suppose this happens, what does that say about you as a person?
- How would you describe someone like that?
- What does this mean for you?
- What would you think of yourself if what you fear happened?
- And if this were true, what would this mean for how others perceive
you?
- Suppose people react …, what does that say about them?

Hot Thought: the automatic negative thought that is most emotionally


charged or impactful in a situation.

Arguments Supporting the HOT (Key Automatic Negative


Thought):

- What evidence supports the HOT?


- What experiences have you had that suggest the HOT is true?
- What reasons make you believe the HOT is true?
- What arguments support the HOT?
- If you were presenting in court, what evidence would you use to
prove the HOT?

Arguments Against the HOT:

- What arguments go against the HOT?


- What evidence shows that the HOT isn’t (entirely) true?
- What experiences suggest that the HOT isn’t always or fully true?
- If you were in court, what evidence would you present against the
HOT?
- What alternative explanations or interpretations of this event could
there be besides the HOT?
- Imagine it’s twenty years from now, and you are older and wiser.
Looking back on this situation and thought, what would you argue
against the HOT?
- Think of someone whose opinion you respect. If they were present
during this conversation, what would they say to argue against the
HOT?
- If a friend of yours held this thought, what would you say to them to
show the HOT isn’t (fully) true?
- Who among your family or friends believes the HOT isn’t true, and
why?
- What personal strengths are you overlooking when you reason this
way?

Formulating the BAT (Balanced Alternative Thought):

- We’ve critically examined your thought. What conclusion now best


fits what we’ve found in both categories?
- What is your final judgment? Which thought remains valid?
- Summarize the arguments supporting the HOT in one sentence.
Then summarize the arguments against the HOT in one sentence,
and connect them with the word “but.”
- If you were advising someone you care about based on all this
information, what would your final judgment be?

The Effect of the BAT:

- Imagine the situation again, but this time with the BAT in mind. How
would that affect your feelings/behavior? Would you feel/act the
same way, or would it be different?
- How intense is the feeling of X now, as you imagine the situation
with the new thought in mind?
- What could you do to make the BAT more believable?
- What do you think is needed to make the BAT more credible?
- What behavior matches someone who finds the BAT believable in
such situations? Where would you like to start applying this in the
coming period?

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating” — Credibility will only


change when patients experience in real life that their new thought is
true.

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