Stinking Thinking Part 1: (Cognitive Distortions - What are they?)

Stinking Thinking Part 1: What are cognitive distortions?

Cognitive Distortions are unhealthy, exaggerated, unhelpful patterns of thought. 

 Cognitive distortions:  What are they? exaggerated/irrational/unhelpful thought patterns  (Aka:  stinking thinking) 

Where do they come from? 

• Developed as a way of coping with adverse life events. 

• Developed to deal with stress 

• Family or origin 

• Personality 

• Hormones 

• Sleep 

  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice.  Philippians 4:8 

 Filtering/discounting the positive  

Isaiah 43:1-3   

Psalm 23:4  

Polarized (black and white/all or nothing) thinking  

I Corinthians 12:17-18   

Isaiah 55:8   

Overgeneralization 

Jumping to conclusions  

Romans 8:28  

Jeremiah 29:11  

Catastrophizing/magnifying     

Philippians 4:6-7  

Matthew 6:25-27  

Personalization    

Control    

Externally controlled:  I am a helpless victim of fate. 

Internally controlled: I assume responsibility for the pain and happiness of everyone around me. 

Fallacy of Fairness  

Blaming/”should” statements    

Emotional reasoning     

Proverbs 3:5-6   

2 Corinthian 4:16-18   

Fallacy of change   

Labeling   

Always being right    

Heaven’s reward fallacy    

Mind reading    

Galatians 1:10   

Romans 8:31