Cognitive
Restructuring!
Presented By:
Bush
Jason
Melissa
Cognitive Restructuring
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A coping technique; substituting
negative, self-defeating thoughts with
positive, affirming thoughts that change
perceptions of stressors from
threatening to non threatening.
Term coined by Meichenbaum in 1975
Cognitive Restructuring Cont.
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Involves assuming responsibility,
facing the reality of a situation, and
taking the offensive to resolve the
issues causing stress.
Why use Cognitive
Restructuring?
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Allows you to widen perspective
Decreases the intensity of perceived
stress
Helps change negative self-defeating
attitude to a positive one
Albert Ellis
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Rational Emotive Therapy (RET)
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Stress-related behaviors initiated by
perceptions
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Believed these perceptions could be
changed
People can be educated to favorably alter
negative or stress-related perceptions into
positive attitudes
Information-Processing Model
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A model that reveals how we potentially
perceive sensory information, for better
or worse. (Add in scanned picture)
The information-processing model
Neurolinguistic Programming
(NLP)
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Richard Bandler & John Grinder
A program designed to look at how our
thoughts control our language and how
our language influences our behavior.
By encouraging reprogramming &
eliminating negative vernacular words,
phrases, & thoughts that reinforce
stress-prone behaviors.
Toxic Thoughts
Repeated negative thought processing
that tends to pollute our view of our
lives and ourselves.
Thought Stopping
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A coping technique where one
consciously stops the run of negative
thoughts going through one’s head.
When you catch yourself thinking
negatively, you interrupt the flow of
consciousness and say to yourself “stop
this thought”
Thought Stopping Worksheet
Self-talk
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The perpetual conversation heard in the
mind, usually negative and coming from
the critical (ego), which rarely has
anything good to say.
Types of Negative Self-Talk
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Pessimism (Looking at the worst of every situation)
Catastrophizing (Making the worst of every
situation)
Blaming (Shifting responsibility from yourself)
Perfectionism (Imposing above-human standards
on oneself)
Polarized thinking (Views are always extreme,
extremely good or extremely bad)
Should-ing (Things you should have done)
Magnifying (blowing things out of proportion)
Using Self-Talk Efficiently
Recall Journal 17 (positive affirmations)
 Phrase in the present tense
 Phrase in a positive way
 Make simple, clear, and precise
 Choose one that feels right for you
EX.
I radiate success
I am a beautiful human being
I am calm and relaxed
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Self-Talk Worksheet
Assessing the Effectiveness of Self-Talk
Interventions on Endurance Performance
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Authors: Ryan Hamilton, David Scott, & Michael
MacDougall
3 different self-talk interventions were used on 9
endurance cyclists
Cyclists were told to cycle as far as they could for 20
min, 2x week for 5 weeks
Results
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Self-regulated positive self-talk: cyclists read
statements, “My legs are strong”, “I can
maintain this pace” (performance increased)
Assisted positive self-talk: cyclists listened to
audiotapes with positive statements (highest
performance increase)
Assisted negative self-talk: cyclists listened to
audiotapes with negative statements, “My
legs are weak”, ”I can’t maintain this pace” (2
out of 3 improved performance)
Steps to Initiate Cognitive
Restructuring
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Awareness
Reappraisal of the situation
Adoption and Substitution
Evaluation
Tips & Suggestions
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Initiate a relaxation technique to calm
your mind
Take responsibility for your own
thoughts
Fine-tune expectations
Give yourself positive affirmations
Accentuate the positive
Healthy Thoughts to Reduce
Stress
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Nobody’s perfect, not even me
Gray is sometimes the best color
The swoosh principle: Just do it
I will survive, whether you like me or not
Only Zebras cannot change their stripes
http://www.kstate.edu/paccats/Contents/Stress/Cognitive%20Restructuring.p
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