The "triple-column technique" can be used to restructure the way you think about yourself when you have goofed up in some way. The aim is to substitute more objective rational thoughts for the illogical, harsh self-criticisms that automatically flood your mind when a negative event occurs.
Automatic Thought (SELF-Criticism)
1. I never do anything right.
2. I'm always late.
3. Everyone will look down on me.
4. This shows what a jerk I am.
5. I'll make a fool of myself.
Cognitive Distortion (SELF-DEFENSE)
1. Overgeneralization
2. Overgeneralization
3. Mind reading
Overgeneralization
All-or-nothing thinking
Fortune teller error
4. Labeling
5. Labeling Fortune teller error
Rational Response
1. Nonsense I do a lot of things right.
2. I'm not always late. That's ridiculous. Think of all the times I've been on time. If I’m late more often than I’d like, I'll work at this problem and develop a method for being more punctual.
3. Someone may be disappointed that I’m late but it's not the end of the world. Maybe the meeting won't even start on time.
4. Come on, now, I'm not "a jerk."
5. Ditto. I'm not "a fool" either. I may appear foolish if I come in late, but this doesn't make me a fool. Everyone is late sometimes
LIST OF COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS
1. ALL OR-NOTHING THINKING: You see things in black- and-white categories If your performance falls short of perfect,you see yourself as a total failure.
2. OVERGENERALIZATION: You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.
3. MENTAL FILTER: You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors the entire beaker of water.
4. DISQUALIFYING THE POSITIVE: You reject positive experiences by insisting they "don't count" for some reason orother. In this way you can maintain a negative belief that is contradicted by your everyday experiences.
5. JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS: You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusion.
a. Mind reading. You arbitrarily conclude that someone isreacting negatively to you, and you don't bother to check this out.
b. The Fortune Teller Error. You anticipate that things will turn out badly, and you feel convinced that your prediction is an already-established fact.
6. MAGNIFICATION (CATASTROPHIZING) OR MINIMIZATION: You exaggerate the importance of things (such as your goof-up or someone else's achievement), or you inappropriately shrink things until they appear tiny (your own desirable qualities- or the other fellow's imperfections). This is also called the "binocular trick."
7. EMOTIONAL REASONING: You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are: "I feel it, therefore it must be true."
8. SHOULD STATEMENTS: You try to motivate yourself with shoulds and shouldn'ts, as if you had to be whipped and punished' before you could be expected to do anything. "Musts' and "oughts" are also offenders. The emotional consequence is guilt; When you direct should statements toward others, you feel anger-frustration, and resentment.
9. LABELING AND MISLABELING.- This is an extreme form of overgeneralization. Instead of describing your error, you attach a negative label to yourself: "I'm a loser r When someone else's behavior rubs you the wrong way, you attach a negative label to him: “He’s a jerk." Mislabeling involves describing an event with language that is highly colored and emotionally loaded.
10. PERSONALIZATION: You see yourself as the cause of some negative external event which in fact you were not primarily responsible for.
Become familiar with these ten forms of distortion, you will benefit from this knowledge all your life. From: Feeling Good by David Burns, MD