Cbt Terms

Front 1

Arbitrary Inference

Back 1

drawing a conclusion without evidence or in the face of contradictory evidence

example: a teenage girl with anorexia nervosa believes she is fat although she is dying from starvation

Front 2

Overgeneralization

Back 2

single negative event is viewed as a never-ending pattern of defeat

example: following a job interview, a high school student does not receive the job he/she begins thinking that he/she will never find a job position despite his/her qualifications

Front 3

Magnification and/or Minimization

Back 3

the binocular trick. Things seem bigger or smaller than they truly are.

example: a graduate student believes that a minor mistake will lead to him being kicked out of the program vs. a graduate student who believes he/she does not have a problem

Front 4

Personalization

Back 4

assuming personal responsibility for something for which you are not responsible; often seen in patients who are sexually abuse/assaulted

Front 5

Dichotomous/Polarized Thinking

Back 5

things are seen as black and white, there is no gray or middle ground; things are wonderful or awful, good or bad, perfect or a failure

Front 6

Mind Reading

Back 6

assuming someone is responding negatively to you without checking it out

example: If your significant other is in a bad mood, you assume it is your fault and don’t ask what is wrong

Front 7

Fortune Teller Error

Back 7

creating a negative self-fulfilling prophecy; you believe you will fail an important exam so you do not study and fail

Front 8

Emotional Reasoning

Back 8

you assume that your negative feeling results from the fact that things are negative; if you feel bad, then that means the world or situation is bad. You do not consider that your feelings are a misrepresentation of the facts

Front 9

Should Statements

Back 9

use words like should, must, ought rather than “it would be preferred” to guilt self

Front 10

Labeling and Mislabeling

Back 10

name calling such as “He’s a Jerk” rather than just criticizing the behavior

Front 11

Selective Abstraction

Back 11

forming conclusions based on an isolated detail or event

Front 12

Cognitive Modeling

Back 12

identification of what maladaptive or bad thoughts or emotions the client wishes to be rid of and then the therapist models with self-talk that the client will incorporate

Front 13

Covert Modeling

Back 13

a client imagines engaging in the desired behaviors he or she wants to learn or adopt

Front 14

Thought Stopping

Back 14

interruption of unwanted thoughts when they occur by shouting “stop” whenever the unwanted thought pops into consciousness

Front 15

Cognitive Restructuring

Back 15

replacement of negative, maladaptive thoughts with positive, adaptive ones

Front 16

Reframing

Back 16

to modify or restructure a person’s view or perception regarding a problem or behavior

Front 17

Stress Inoculation

Back 17

a process of teaching clients both cognitive and physical skills for autonomously coping with future stressful and distressing situations

Front 18

Socratic Dialogue

Back 18

questioning used to help patient come to their own conclusions about their thoughts and behavior

Front 19

De-catastrophizing

Back 19

“What if that happened, then what?”

Front 20

Reattribution

Back 20

alternative explanations systematically examined

Front 21

Redefining

Back 21

help client see the problem differently (e.g. “Nobody ever talks to me” becomes “I need to try to initiate conversation so other people become interested in talking to me”)

Front 22

Decentering

Back 22

used with social anxiety to shift the focus; client is taught to see that thoughts are just thoughts and not “them” or “reality”

Front 23

Relaxation Training and Relaxation Therapy

Back 23

a person cannot be in a state of complete physical relaxation while at the same time be emotionally anxious works well for stress, anxiety, physiological problems, workplace pressures, and coping with modern lifestyles

Front 24

Mental and Emotive Imagery

Back 24

mental imagery is a process through which a person focuses on vivid mental pictures of experiences or events—past, present or future

Front 25

Emotive imagery

Back 25

It is a procedure where the client imagines the emotional sensations and feelings of an actual situation or behavior