Question #1. Cognitive distortions are not always negative. People can delude themselves about gambling, for example. “I can make up all my losses by just going back today.” “Today is the day. I feel it. This is my lucky day.” Narcissistic persons might believe they are better than other people. There are many possible positive distortions They at least appear positive on the surface; but they can lead to negative consequences.
Question #2. Yes, these three steps are a reasonable summary of what cognitive therapy is about and what it does.
Question #3. Often, a negative thought can be described by three, four, or even more distortion labels.
Question #4. Positive thinking usually has limited value in treating depression; mostly people know in the back of their minds that they are just kidding themselves.
Question #5. On the other hand, changing an unrealistic pattern of negative thinking to a realistic pattern (not just positive thinking) is much more powerful.
Question #6. Reframing a thought is not the same thing as simply thinking positively. It is thinking through a situation and coming up with a better, more logical, more rational, and in the end, more convincing explanation of the facts. There are times when the reframe is not necessarily based on facts but simply considered as a tentative hypothesis. This can allows the person to take a deep breath and relax and to at least consider that there are other possibilities. There are other times that the reframed thought is absolutely a better match to the data of experience than the original negative thought.
Question # 7. The feeling of certainty which can accompany automatic negative thoughts is not a good indicator of how true a thought is. Uncoupling these two issues is one of the hardest, and most important, steps in the cognitive therapy process.
Question #8. A behavioral experiment is a way of gathering data. If we have negative thoughts, and if we have very little data for whether those thoughts are true we may need to create. a situation to test out the thoughts to see if they do come true.
Question #9. It is still important to process our feelings. While that is not the central core of CBT, it is often very helpful to share our feelings with someone else. Moreover, we can’t understand how negative thoughts are affecting us without reflecting on the connection between the two in our lives.
Question #10. Once the patient/client understands the role of ANTs in generating and sustaining the depressive syndrome, they have a better chance of intercepting, challenging and reframing those thoughts. However, the thoughts do not cease to occur. Especially under stress, they are likely to keep popping up at first. But over time, they diminish.