Cognitive Restructuring
“a multistep process that involves: (1) eliciting problematic cognitions known as automatic thoughts or negative automatic thoughts of the self, world, or future, (2) formulating rational responses to these negative automatic thoughts by (3) identifying and removing cognitive distortions found in the automatic thoughts and (4) correcting false beliefs, assumptions, predictions and so on, using a Socratic dialogue.”Read more

"Should" Statements
Information handouts
All-Or-Nothing Thinking
Information handouts
Anger Thought Challenging Record
Worksheets
Anxiety - Self-Monitoring Record
Worksheets
Arbitrary Inference
Information handouts
Barriers Abusers Overcome In Order To Abuse
Information handouts
Before I Blame Myself And Feel Guilty
Exercises
Behavioral Experiment
Worksheets
Behavioral Experiment (Portrait Format)
Worksheets
Belief-O-Meter (CYP)
Worksheets
Catastrophizing
Information handouts
Catching Your Thoughts (CYP)
Worksheets
CBT Appraisal Model
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CBT Thought Record Portrait
Worksheets
Challenging Your Negative Thinking (Archived)
Archived
Compassionate Thought Challenging Record
Worksheets
Court Trial Thought Challenging Record (Archived)
Archived
Decatastrophizing
Exercises
Demanding Standards – Living Well With Your Personal Rules
Guides
Disqualifying Others
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Disqualifying The Positive
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Dysfunctional Thought Record
Worksheets
Emotional Reasoning
Information handouts
Evaluating Unhelpful Automatic Thoughts
Guides
Evaluating Your Demanding Standards
Worksheets
Externalizing
Information handouts
Fact Or Opinion
Exercises
Fortune Telling
Information handouts
Health Anxiety Thought Record
Worksheets
Hindsight Bias
Information handouts
Hindsight Bias (Archived)
Archived
Hotspot Record
Worksheets
Identifying Your Demanding Standards
Worksheets
Interoceptive Exposure
Exercises
Interpersonal Beliefs And Styles
Worksheets
Intrusive Thoughts Images And Impulses
Exercises
Jumping To Conclusions
Information handouts
Managing Social Anxiety: Therapist Guide
Treatments That Work®
Managing Social Anxiety: Workbook
Treatments That Work®
Managing Substance Use Disorder: Practitioner Guide
Treatments That Work®
Mastery Of Your Anxiety And Panic: Therapist Guide
Treatments That Work®
Mastery Of Your Anxiety And Panic: Workbook
Treatments That Work®
Mastery Of Your Anxiety And Worry: Therapist Guide
Treatments That Work®
Mastery Of Your Anxiety And Worry: Workbook
Treatments That Work®
Meaning In Tinnitus
Exercises
Mind Reading
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Modifying Rules And Assumptions
Worksheets
Nightmare Exposure And Rescripting
Exercises
Nightmare Rescripting (Audio)
Audio
Overcoming Depression: Therapist Guide
Treatments That Work®
Overcoming Depression: Workbook
Treatments That Work®
Overcoming Eating Disorders: Therapist Guide
Treatments That Work®
Overcoming Insomnia: Therapist Guide
Treatments That Work®
Overcoming Insomnia: Workbook
Treatments That Work®
Overcoming Your Eating Disorder: Workbook
Treatments That Work®
Overgeneralization
Information handouts
Permissive Thinking
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Personalizing
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Perspective-Taking
Worksheets
Pie Charts
Exercises
Positive Belief Record
Worksheets
Prolonged Exposure Therapy For PTSD: Therapist Guide
Treatments That Work®
Prompts For Challenging Negative Thinking
Exercises
REBT Consequences Analysis Form
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Reciprocal CBT Formulation
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Reclaiming Your Life From A Traumatic Experience: Workbook
Treatments That Work®
Schema Bias
Information handouts
Self Critical Thought Challenging Record
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Self-Blame
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Simple Thought Challenging Record
Worksheets
Social Comparison
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Stimulus Discrimination
Exercises
Stimulus Discrimination (Audio)
Audio
Taking Panic Out Of The Body
Exercises
Testing Anxious And Panicky Predictions (Psychology Tools For Overcoming Panic)
Books & Chapters
Theory A / Theory B
Worksheets
Theory A / Theory B (Archived)
Archived
Thought Distortion Monitoring Record
Worksheets
Thought Record – Courtroom Trial
Worksheets
Thought Record (Considered Response)
Worksheets
Thought Record (Evidence For And Against)
Worksheets
Thought-Action Fusion
Information handouts
Thoughts In CBT (Psychology Tools For Living Well)
Books & Chapters
Treating Your OCD With Exposure And Response (Ritual) Prevention: Workbook
Treatments That Work®
Unhelpful Thinking Styles
Information handouts
Vertical Arrow Down Arrow Vertical Descent
Exercises
Vicious Flower Formulation
Exercises
What If
Exercises
Working With Anxious Thoughts And Predictions (Psychology Tools For Overcoming Panic)
Books & Chapters
Worry Thought Record
Worksheets
Types
- Case formulation – Case conceptualization can promote cognitive restructuring by helping clients to think about their difficulties from a different perspective. For example, some clients find the process of formulation can instill hope by making potential solutions apparent
- Psychoeducation – Learning more about a condition, disorder, or process almost by definition promotes cognitive restructuring. For example, learning about typical automatic reactions in trauma (e.g.freezing, soiling) can reduce a sense of self-blame and associated shame
- Traditional CBT thought records – Thought records help clients to identify Negative Automatic Thoughts, then to identify any unhelpful thinking styles, then to generate alternative (cognitively restructured) ways of thinking
- Behavioral experiments – Behavioral experiements can help clients to experimentally test the validity of beliefs which may or may not be unhelpful. They can promote cognitive restructuring by helping clients to uncover evidence which contradicts previously held beliefs
- Socratic questioning – Guided discovery is used to explore a client’s beliefs. This can promote cognitive restructuring by making explicit belief structures, rules, and assumptions of which a client may have been unaware
- Diaries – Diaries or other forms of evidence gathering can generate concrete evidence. This can promote cognitive restructuring by undermine unhelpful assumptions
Intervention
- Definition of cognitive restructuring download
- Schema change processes in cognitive therapy download archived copy
- Modification of core beliefs in cognitive therapy (book chapter) download archived copy
- Identifying and challenging thinking errors download archived copy
- Identifying and modifying negative automatic thoughts download archived copy
- Identifying and working with dysfunctional assumptions download archived copy
Recommended Reading
- Bouchard, S., Gauthier, J., Laberge, B., French, D., Pelletier, M. H., & Godbout, C. (1996). Exposure versus cognitive restructuring in the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34(3), 213-224. download archived copy
- Bryant, R. A., Moulds, M. L., Guthrie, R. M., Dang, S. T., & Nixon, R. D. (2003). Imaginal exposure alone and imaginal exposure with cognitive restructuring in treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 71(4), 706. download archive.org
What Is Cognitive Restructuring?
Techniques for Cognitive Restructuring
- Behavioral experiments (including hypothesis testing and surveys) have been a fundamental CBT technique since the publication of the first treatment manual: “a powerful method with which to investigate the validity of a specific assumption consists of designing an experiment or task to test the assumption empirically” (Beck et al., 1979). Bennett-Levy et al. (2004) define behavioral experiments as:
“planned experiential activities, based on experimentation or observation, which are undertaken by patients in or between cognitive therapy sessions … their primary purpose is to obtain new information which may help to: test the validity of the patients’ existing beliefs …; construct and/or test new, more adaptive beliefs; contribute to the development and verification of the cognitive formulation.”
- Examining and reality-testing automatic thoughts and images, popularly known as ‘thought challenging’ or ‘disputing thoughts’ is a technique by which patients are encouraged to examine the accuracy of and validity of their negative automatic thoughts and images.
- Psychoeducation in therapy refers to information-giving. Many patients experience psychological distress because they lack critical information. Information can be given directly in the form of handouts or reading, or indirectly in the form of information-gathering exercises.
- Socratic dialogue is “a method of guided discovery in which the therapist asks a series of carefully sequenced questions to help define problems, assist in the identification of thoughts and beliefs, examine the meaning of events, or assess the ramifications of particular thoughts or behaviors” (Beck & Dozois, 2011). The Socratic method can help patients to reflect upon how they think and the assumptions they make, and can promote cognitive change.
References
- Beck, A. T., & Dozois, D. J. (2011). Cognitive therapy: Current status and future directions. Annual Review of Medicine, 62, 397–409.
- Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford Press.
- Bennett-Levy, J., Butler, G., Fennell, M., Hackmann, A., Mueller, M., & Westbrook, D. (2004). Oxford guide to behaviouralexperiments in cognitive therapy. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Leahy, R. L., & Rego, S. A. (2012). Cognitive restructuring. In W. T. O’Donohue & J. E. Fisher (Eds.), Cognitive behavior therapy: Core principles for practice(pp. 113–158). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.