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Topics Related to Cognitive Therapy Cognitive therapy is based on the idea that our emotions and behavior are very much influenced by what we think; we can change our patterns of emotion and behavior for the better by consciously choosing how we want to think about the situations that arise. The insights of cognitive therapy have traditionally been taught through Socratic dialogues with a therapist. But some resourceful people can learn these ideas by reading about them and by doing exercises that give practice in consciously choosing thoughts. I find that a large fraction of the thoughts we have that are important determinants of our mood and behavior can be classified into twelve types: 1. Awfulizing (That's really bad, that's terrible.) 2. Getting down on yourself. (I did something stupid.) 3. Blaming someone else. (He did something bad.) 4. Not awfulizing. (This isn't such a big deal.) 5. Not getting down on yourself. (I don't want to punish myself.) 6. Not blaming someone else. (I don't want to keep dwelling on how wrong the other person's actions were.) 7. Goal-setting. (Here's what I want to make happen, if I can.) 8. Listing options and choosing. (I could do this, or that, or this. I think this is the best option.) 9. Learning from the experience. (Next time I run into a situation like this, I'll ...) 10. Celebrating luck. (A lucky aspect of this is that...) 11. Celebrating someone else's choice. (I'm glad that ____ did ____.) 12. Celebrating your own choice. (I'm glad that I did ____.) The task is to pick which sorts of thoughts are most useful at any given situation. Most people seem to pick their thoughts by reflex habit rather than by conscious choice. If you can get to the point where you can choose thought patterns consciously, you have achieved a very important form of liberation. Click this link if you would like to read a tutorial on Cognitive Restructuring. Click this link if you would like to read a chapter from Programmed Readings for Psychological Skills, on The Twelve Thought Exercise.
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