Module six cognitive distortion part two. As you become more mindful and aware of your own distorted thinking in times of distress, you may notice your own tendency to fall into specific distorted thinking patterns more so than others. Before describing additional distorted thinking patterns, here are some steps you can take to address many different types of distorted thinking. Take a deep breath and be mindful of how you are thinking. Take note of whether your thoughts are coming in slowly or quickly. Are they coming in complete sentences or in phrases in shorthand?

Are you using hyperbolic language in your thinking? words such as always, or never or everybody? Are you using I statements or use statements? Are your thoughts specific or general? rephrase your thought as a complete sentence. If you notice hyperbolic language, ask yourself if this is really the case.

If you notice a lot of generalized statements try to be specific. If you notice a lot of use statements try to rephrase these as I statements. destructive labeling. destructive labeling occurs when you characterize something or someone in a generalized and negative fashion. For example, if you are a supervisor and an employee comes in late to work, thinking that this person is irresponsible or doesn't care about their job is an example of destructive labeling. destructive labeling can be applied to a situation as well.

Perhaps you are engaged in a problem that you have not been able to resolve. You throw up your hands and say to yourself, this is stupid. by labeling the situation is stupid. You can give up on the problem without remorse perhaps, however, the problem would still remain. When you find yourself engaging in destructive labeling. A good way to counter the distorted thinking is to be specific.

Rather than saying this is stupid, you can look at the specific issue and identity what is bothering you about it and why it is bothering you. When an employee is late, rather than characterizing the employee as irresponsible, rephrase the thought in a complete sentence that specifically and accurately addresses the situation. When the employee was late this morning, I felt this behavior was irresponsible. However, the employee may have a good reason for being late. Even if the employee did not have a good reason for being late and was acting irresponsibly, it's a lot easier to address an irresponsible action than an irresponsible person. personalising while this distorted thinking pattern can be similar to jumping to conclusions, it does so in a more specific way, by relating everything back to yourself or by taking responsibility for something over which you have no control.

Here are two examples. When your child falls on the playground at school, you think this is my fault. I'm a bad parent. You call a friend and they don't answer call you back. You think why is my friend mad at me? This is actually an example of both personalizing because you think your friend's reason for not calling is about you.

And jumping to conclusions because you don't know why your friend hasn't called you back. Blaming a similar distorted thinking patterns or personalizing is blaming. Whereas the personalizing distorted thinking pattern relates everything back to yourself. Blaming occurs when you focus more on who you think is at fault in a situation, rather than focusing on a resolution to the situation. When you cast blame either at yourself or others. This rarely helps matters because it is more about identifying someone to punish them than it is about finding a solution to a problem.

When you find yourself casting blame on yourself or another's, try reframing the situation in terms that look for a solution. Ask yourself regardless of who is at fault, what can I do to make this situation better? Keep in mind that taking responsibility is different from taking blame. When someone is responsible, they are able to respond which means they are capable of changing the situation rather than being at fault in a situation that tyranny of the should. This distorted thinking pattern is also referred to as imperative thinking. This occurs when you fixate on how you think a person or situation should or shouldn't be, rather than how they or it is in actuality.

This is another example where our thoughts about a situation are not helpful. For example, when you call someone and they don't call you back, you think this person should call me back. While this may be true, it does nothing to address the situation at hand. And it frequently points to an aspect of the situation or the other person over which you have no control. The pedestrian I almost hit when they started crossing the street should have looked both ways before they cross the street. However, they didn't.

And nothing I think or do will change that. reminding yourself about how the situation is in actuality, what you have control over and how you must adapt to the actual scenario are the best ways to counteract this distorted thinking.