Cognitive restructuring helps transform stressful thoughts into less stressful ones – or, where necessary, develop an action plan. We explain how it works.
The concept of cognitive restructuring was developed by psychiatrist and psychotherapist Aaron Temkin Beck and colleagues in the late 1970s as an approach to combat depression. Since then, it has become a popular approach to treating various mental health problems, particularly among young adults.
Important: If you suspect that you may be mentally ill, be sure to get professional help. This guide can in no way replace an orientation meeting with a therapist or even therapy.
Use cognitive restructuring yourself
If you don’t have mental health issues but occasionally struggle with unproductive negative thoughts, this method might help you.
With the five steps of cognitive restructuring, you’ll learn to carefully examine your thoughts when you’re upset or feeling stressed about something. Then one of two things happens:
- If analysis shows that the stressful thought is not true or correct, you can change it to a less stressful thought.
- If your assessment shows that the negative thought is correct, you can develop an action plan to deal with the situation.
The five steps to cognitive restructuring
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / dmytro_R)
A handout (PDF download) from the American Psychological Association (APA) describes the five steps for cognitive restructuring (KU). To work through them you will need pen and paper. You can download a worksheet for this process in English directly from the APA. You can also have this translated automatically online if necessary.
1. The situation
Write down the stressful situation. It may be an actual event; for example, that you have to attend an unpleasant appointment; or the memory of an event, for example thoughts of a catastrophe that you witnessed. However, it can also be a situation that you have not experienced. In each case, only write one sentence that describes the situation.
2. The feeling
Identify the most stressful feeling you had in each situation. Focus on the strongest, most distressing feeling, even if you have had several. It’s easiest to focus on four basic feelings: fear, sadness, guilt and anger. Choose one of them and work through all five steps with that feeling. If you notice multiple feelings of equal intensity, first perform a cognitive restructuring for the first feeling and then a second KU for the next feeling.
3. The thought
Identify the thoughts that underlie your stressful feelings. Write down all the thoughts that come to mind about the respective feeling and mark the most stressful one – for example by circling it. Depending on the type of feeling, ask yourself the following questions and be as specific as possible when answering:
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when afraid or worried: “What bad things do I expect to happen?” or “What kind of danger am I in?”
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If you are sad or depressed: “How have I lost hope?” or “What is missing in my life?”
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with guilt or shame: “What bad have I done?” or “What’s wrong with me?”
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when angry: “What is unfair about this situation?” or “Who did me wrong?”
Consider whether this thought follows a typical pattern of making habitual but inaccurate conclusions about a situation. The APA calls this a “problematic thinking style”.
4. Evaluation of the thought
In this step, weigh the evidence as to whether the selected thought is legitimate or not. Write down all the clues. Be careful and as objective as possible.
You may have difficulty finding evidence against the idea. In this case, the APA recommends asking yourself the following or similar questions:
- Is there an alternative explanation for what happened?
- How would someone else feel about the situation?
- Am I overestimating how much control and responsibility I have/had in this situation?
5. Make decisions
To decide which evidence prevails, also note that you should give more weight to objective and fact-based evidence than to evidence based on feelings and opinions. For example, imagine how an uninvolved jury would decide given the recorded evidence. Write down the result.
- If the thought is not true, develop a new, true thought to replace it. Write this down on the worksheet too.
- Once the idea is well supported by evidence, you need to develop a plan of action. How exactly you do this is described in another handout from the APA: the action plan worksheet. In summary, there are four steps: define the problem, brainstorm solutions and choose the best ones, create a plan for implementation, follow the plan and determine when you will check whether it worked.
Tip: If you have difficulty making decisions, the following technique may help you: Make better decisions using the 10-10-10 method.
Think positively instead of negatively: More tips and techniques
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / athree23)
In addition to cognitive restructuring, there are other techniques and tricks that focus on thoughts:
- Get rid of negative thoughts: This is how you deal with them
- Think positively: How to learn and get rid of negative thoughts
- Stop ruminating: How to interrupt your thoughts
- This is how you can dissolve and change inner beliefs
- Bad mood: Use these tips to improve your mood
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- Learning mindfulness: definition and 5 exercises for everyday life