Overgeneralizing When someone to a Look at all the evidence…try definitive conclusion from a again…recall a time when it felt single piece of evidence. different. Come up with a more balanced response. E.g., “My E.g., professor didn’t “My professor saw my classmate’s call on me he does not – hand first… he called on me twice like me.” last week.” Labelling This is a form of How would you counter this? overgeneralizing in which What do you think would be a someone gives themselves more balanced thought? or someone else an extreme label. E.g. am a “I failure.” is a careless “He jerk.” Thinking Error What it Means How to Combat it Mind Reading When people they We really don’t know what know what another person people are thinking. We may be is thinking. E.g., drawing a conclusion based on our “My boyfriend’s mom never own filters. Perhaps my smiles when I come over boyfriend’s mom is not friendly or – she must hate me.” is having a rough time herself. A more balanced statement might be, though she doesn’t “Even smile, she does invite me to stay for supper.” When people mistake their When we are sad or depressed it Emotional Reasoning feelings for facts or draw a can be difficult to view situations in conclusion based on a a balanced way. Again, take a feeling. E.g., feel like a step back, try to be realistic and “I failure, therefore I am a consider other options. E.g., feel “I failure.” feel hopeless; hopeless today, but last week I felt “I therefore my situation must much better this will pass I will – – be hopeless.” feel more hopeful tomorrow.” “I know this is my depression talking.” Mental Filtering When you ignore the Look at the bigger picture. Try to positive aspects of be realistic take in BOTH the – something and focus on only the negative aspects
Overgeneralizing When someone to a definitive conclusion from a single piece of evidence. E.g., “My professor didn’t call on me – he does not like me.” Look at all the evidence…try again…recall a time when it felt different. Come up with a more balanced response. E.g., “My professor saw my classmate’s hand first… he called on me twice last week.” Labelling This is a form of overgeneralizing in which someone gives themselves or someone else an extreme label. E.g. “I am a failure.” “He is a careless jerk.” How would you counter this? What do you think would be a more balanced thought? Thinking Error What it Means How to Combat it Mind Reading When people they know what another person is thinking. E.g., “My boyfriend’s mom never smiles when I come over – she must hate me.” We really don’t know what people are thinking. We may be drawing a conclusion based on our own filters. Perhaps my boyfriend’s mom is not friendly or is having a rough time herself. A more balanced statement might be, “Even though she doesn’t smile, she does invite me to stay for supper.” Emotional Reasoning When people mistake their feelings for facts or draw a conclusion based on a feeling. E.g., “I feel like a failure, therefore I am a failure.” “I feel hopeless; therefore my situation must be hopeless.” When we are sad or depressed it can be difficult to view situations in a balanced way. Again, take a step back, try to be realistic and consider other options. E.g., “I feel hopeless today, but last week I felt much better – this will pass – I will feel more hopeful tomorrow.” “I know this is my depression talking.” Mental Filtering When you ignore the positive aspects of something and focus on only the negative aspects Look at the bigger picture. Try to be realistic – take in BOTH the
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