The information handout explores the 'mental filter' cognitive distortion, whereby individuals appraise an experience by focusing on a single detail, which is taken out of context and magnified, while discounting or ignoring other details.
Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Cognitive distortions, cognitive biases, or ‘unhelpful thinking styles’ are characteristic ways in which our thoughts can become biased (Beck, 1963). Once these biases have been identified, clients can be taught to appraise the accuracy of these automatic thoughts and draw new conclusions.
Mental filter (also referred to as ‘selective abstraction’) is defined as appraising an experience by focusing on a single detail, which is taken out of context and magnified. At the same time, other salient details are discounted or ignored, so people fail to see the ‘whole picture’ when making sense of their experiences.
The Mental Filter information handout forms part of the cognitive distortions series, designed to help clients and therapists to work more effectively with common thinking biases.
The Mental Filter handout helps clients and therapists identify and address this common cognitive distortion.
Focusing on negative, rather than positive, aspects of an event.
Tendency to focus on threats rather than signs of safety.
Discounting positive feedback and focusing negative aspects of performance.
Provide psychoeducation on cognitive distortions.
Explore whether the client experiences mental filtering thoughts.
Observe mental filtering thoughts are they arise.
Tackle these thoughts using interventions such as cognitive restructuring.
Mental filter, also known as 'selective abstraction,' refers to a thinking style where individuals draw conclusions based on a single detail taken out of context while ignoring or discounting other relevant information. This filtering often occurs when people encounter evidence that does not align with their beliefs.
Mental filtering acts as a 'stimulus set,' meaning individuals are inclined to focus on situational factors that trigger their personal sensitivities, such as feelings of rejection, danger, or failure (Bedrosian & Beck, 1980). For instance, in anxiety disorders, mental filtering typically emphasizes the threatening aspects of a situation. In contrast, individuals with depression tend to focus on the negative elements of an event or highlight aspects that signify loss (Beck, 1979).
This process not only involves heightened attention to certain stimuli but also includes the selective suppression of other information. For example, people with anxiety often overlook signs of safety, while those with depression may fail to recognize signs of positive change. Mental filtering is also evident in how individuals recall past experiences; for example, depressed individuals tend to remember unpleasant experiences more easily than positive ones (Beck, 1979).
