This Scaling – Testing Your Assumptions exercise is designed to help individuals re-evaluate dysfunctional assumptions using a continuum graph.
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.
Continuum strategies are a well-known cognitive intervention that help individuals re-evaluate their absolute appraisals, which include core beliefs and dysfunctional assumptions. Scaling – Testing Your Assumptions aims to assist people in reassessing these dysfunctional beliefs using a continuum graph, also referred to as an 'orthogonal continuum.' This exercise incorporates various cognitive restructuring techniques, allowing clients to examine their assumptions from multiple perspectives.
By helping clients identify and test dysfunctional assumptions, this resource supports meaningful cognitive and behavioral change.
Assumptions related to worthlessness or failure.
Conditional assumptions linking appearance and self-worth.
Dysfunctional assumptions about performance and failure.
Help clients articulate their dysfunctional assumption in an “if… then…” form.
Ask clients to rate belief strength (0–100%).
Create a continuum graph with two axes representing the elements of the assumption.
Ask clients to predict how real-life examples should appear if the assumption is accurate.
Plot examples that are consistent and inconsistent with the assumption.
Invite clients to re-rate how much they believe the assumption.
Support clients in developing an alternative, more balanced belief.
According to the cognitive model, dysfunctional assumptions play a role in many forms of psychopathology (Beck et al., 1985). Accordingly, they are sometimes targeted in cognitive-behavioral treatments, including CBT for depression (Beck et al., 1979), eating disorders (Waller et al., 2007), and low self-esteem (Fennell, 2006).
Continuum strategies (or ‘scaling’) involve applying continuous properties to discontinuous (i.e., absolute) cognitions (James & Barton, 2004). In other words, they involve rating an absolute appraisal on a scale to explore whether it exists on spectrum. Continuum graphs – technically known as ‘orthogonal continua’ – are a dual continuum technique for evaluating interconnected beliefs such as dysfunctional assumptions (Padesky, 1994; Padesky & Kennerley, 2023). This approach involves plotting data on a two-dimensional graph to test the accuracy of the client’s assumption (e.g., “If I gain weight, I will be less successful in life”). More specifically, continuum graphs help the client explore whether the beliefs that make up their dysfunctional assumption (e.g., thinness and success) are connected to each another (e.g., that weight gain leads to less success).
This Scaling – Testing Your Assumptions exercise is designed to help individuals re-evaluate dysfunctional assumptions using a personalized continuum graph. It combines several cognitive restructuring strategies so clients can test their assumptions in different ways.
By plotting real-life examples on a continuum graph, clients can visually examine the extent to which their assumption holds true. Prediction lines or ellipses help represent clients' confidence in their assumptions, and the inclusion of discrepant data often leads to more balanced conclusions.
This technique can be especially helpful when clients overgeneralize from isolated experiences. It supports therapists in collaboratively guiding clients toward a more flexible and evidence-informed understanding of themselves and their world.
