Cognitive Distortions - Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Common)

Cognitive distortions are habitual thought patterns that skew perceptions, often resulting in biased and inaccurate views. This information handout describes common cognitive distortions, helping clients identify and address them.

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Professional version

Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.

Client version

Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.

Overview

Cognitive distortions, also known as unhelpful thinking styles, are biased thought patterns. They often lead individuals to misinterpret or misjudge events in ways that can exacerbate emotional distress. Understanding these automatic, involuntary thought processes is a key intervention in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT; Beck, 1963).

This resource provides an informative overview of common cognitive distortions and their association with various psychological disorders. It can help therapists and clients identify, evaluate, and address these distortions, leading to more adaptive thinking and emotional responses.

Why Use This Resource?

Cognitive distortions are key concept in CBT. Recognizing and addressing these distortions can help bring about therapeutic change.

  • Assists in recognizing patterns in clients' thought processes.
  • Provides guidance for addressing faulty cognitions.
  • Supports psychoeducation in cognitive therapy settings.

Key Benefits

Identification

Enables recognition of prevalent cognitive distortions that affect client thinking.

Clarity

Provides clear examples of distorted thinking styles, aiding in client understanding.

Application

Supports the use of cognitive restructuring techniques in therapy.

Cross-Referencing

Links distortions with specific clinical symptoms, aiding in tailored interventions.

Who is this for?

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Persistent and excessive worry.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Intrusive thoughts and compulsions.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

Pronounced low mood.

Personality Disorders

Longstanding emotional and interpersonal difficulties.

Integrating it into your practice

01

Identify

Explore cognitive distortions during sessions to identify problematic thinking styles.

02

Self-Monitor

Help clients to monitor unhelpful thinking styles in different situations.

03

Decenter

Support clients in decentering from their thoughts, promoting meta-cognitive awareness.

04

Restructure

Implement cognitive restructuring practices to address distorted thinking.

05

Experiment

Design behavioral experiments to test and challenge specific cognitive distortions.

Theoretical Background & Therapist Guidance

Cognitive distortions are generally believed to stem from deeply ingrained schemas formed during development. According to Beck's cognitive model, these distortions emerge from a hierarchy of thoughts: automatic thoughts, intermediate beliefs, and core beliefs.

Cognitive distortions can take many forms, such as emotional reasoning (viewing feelings as facts) or catastrophizing (assuming the worst case scenario as inevitable). The cognitive model posits that these biases are a significant contributor to psychological distress, and addressing can help alleviate symptoms.

Clinicians are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the specific distortions listed in this resource and use them as a reference for therapeutic dialogue. By exploring cognitive content and assessing its validity, clinicians can help clients form more balanced perspectives.

What's inside

  • Detailed descriptions of common cognitive distortions.
  • Practical strategies for identifying and addressing distortions in therapy.
  • Guidance for implementing cognitive restructuring techniques.
  • Illustrative examples and prompts to aid clinical discussions.
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FAQs

Cognitive distortions are habitual, automatic patterns of thinking that are often inaccurate. They can lead to misperceptions and emotional distress.
Addressing cognitive distortions can lead to improvements by altering inaccurate thinking patterns, which in turn often alleviates emotional distress.
Yes, with guidance and support, clients can learn to identify these patterns in their thinking, facilitating self-reflection and symptom improvement.
Yes, many distortions are linked to particular disorders, such as catastrophizing with anxiety or black-and-white thinking with borderline personality disorder.

How This Resource Improves Clinical Outcomes

Utilizing this resource can have many clinical benefits:

  • Encourages increased awareness of unhelpful thinking styles.
  • Helps reduce distress through decentring and cognitive restructuring.
  • Enriches the psycho educational aspect of cognitive therapy.

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References And Further Reading

  • Beck, A. T. (1963). Thinking and depression: I. Idiosyncratic content and cognitive distortions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 9, 324-333. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1963.01720160014002.
  • Beck, A. T. (1964). Thinking and depression: II. Theory and therapy. Archives of General Psychiatry, 10, 561-571. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1964.01720240015003.
  • Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. Guilford Press.
  • Beck, J. S. (1995). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond. Guilford Press.
  • Burns, D. D. (1981). Feeling good: The new mood therapy. Penguin.
  • Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.34.10.906.
  • Gilbert, P . (1998). The evolved basis and adaptive functions of cognitive distortions. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 71, 447-463. DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1998.tb01002.x.
  • Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Penguin.
  • Noël, V. A., Francis, S. E., Williams-Outerbridge, K., & Fung, S. L. (2012). Catastrophizing as a predictor of depressive and anxious symptoms in children. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36, 311-320. DOI: 10.1007/s10608-011-9370-2.
  • Pugh, M. (2019). Cognitive behavioural chairwork: Distinctive features. Routledge.
  • Shafran, R., Thordarson, D. S., & Rachman, S. (1996). Thought-action fusion in obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 10, 379-391. DOI: 10.1016/0887-6185(96)00018-7.
  • Stott, R., Mansell, W., Salkovskis, P ., Lavender, A., & Cartrigjt-Hatton, S. (2011). Oxford guide to metaphors in CBT: Building cognitive bridges. Oxford University Press.
  • Teasdale, J. D. (1996). Clinically relevant theory: Integrating clinical insight with cognitive science. In P . M. Salkovskis (Ed.), Frontiers of cognitive therapy (pp. 26-47). Guilford Press.
  • Teasdale, J. D., & Barnard, P . J. (1993). Affect, cognition, and change: Re-modelling depressive thought. Psychology Press.
  • Veen, G., & Arntz, A. (2000). Multidimensional dichotomous thinking characterizes borderline personality disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 24, 23-45. DOI: 10.1023/A:1005498824175.
  • Wells, A. (1997). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: A practice manual and conceptual guide. Wiley.

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