Tools/Techniques
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Make it Gray
People get themselves all wound up in anxious knots, sad, and feeling powerless when they look at things in All or Nothing terms. The truth is, that things in life are very rarely black or white. When you fall into the All or Nothing Thinking cognitive distortion you are doing black/white thinking. Instead look hard for both the “up” and “down” sides of situations, people, and yourself.
Examples:
Black and White (All or Nothing) Thinking: “What a total failure that was!”
More Realistic View: "Part of that didn’t work out but this other part seemed to be OK.”
Black and White (All or Nothing) Thinking: "I completely screwed that up!"
More Realistic View: "It’s true I didn’t do this part well and yet I think I did this other part pretty well” or “OK, so I screwed up a little and it’s also true that I have ___ positive qualities.”
Black and White (All or Nothing) Thinking: "If I can't produce something worthwhile, then why do it?"
More Realistic View: "I might enjoy doing a little something even if it doesn't wind up being some big product."
Make untrue black/white statements more true by seeing both sides: admitting that the truth is probably some shade of gray.
1101 Johnson Avenue, Suite 200 Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 P: 843.839.9028 F: 843.839.9029
Coastal Center for Cognitive Therapy, PA
For a paper copy of the Toolbox, click here.
The CBT Toolbox
