Reframing
Negative &
Unhelpful
Thoughts
•Every day we are capable of having between 50,000 and 60,000 thoughts. A large part of our
day and our energy goes into thinking. What we think influences how we feel and act.
•A thought is a mental representation of Information.
Challenging and learning to replace these thoughts is
one of the best ways to help us deal with stress and
anxiety, improve how we sleep and really boost our
mood. In time, this can really make a difference to our
mental health and wellbeing. Catch it,
If you can learn to take a step back and challenge unhelpful
check it,
thoughts by thinking about what evidence really exists to change it
support them, over time you can succeed in changing them
into more positive ones.
We call this the "catch it, check it, change it" technique.
Steps and strategies to reframe
negative and unhelpful thoughts
• 1. Know what to look for
It's often the case that we are not even aware we're thinking in an
unhelpful way. This can make it difficult to catch these thoughts
in the first place.
However, if we know what sort of thinking is unhelpful, we may
find it easier to spot.
Types of unhelpful thoughts include:
always expecting the worst outcome from any situation
ignoring the good sides of a situation and only focusing on
the bad
seeing things as either only good or only bad, with nothing
in between (black and white thinking)
considering yourself the sole cause of negative situations
2. Practise catching them
• Try to keep the categories of negative thoughts in mind and, if you find yourself having an unhelpful thought as you
go about your day, consider whether it fits one of them.
• Learning to tune into your thoughts like this might feel difficult at first, but even just being aware of the types of
unhelpful thoughts that exist should help you start to recognise when you're engaging in unhelpful thinking yourself.
• As you practise reflecting on your own thoughts and assessing them, it should get easier. Over time, it may even
become automatic.
3. Che ck your unhe lpful thoughts
Once you have caught an unhelpful thought, the next stage is to check it. This means taking a step back and
examining the s ituation.
For example, you might be worried about an important task you have to do at work, and are convinced it will go
wrong and everyone will think you're a failure.
Rather than immediately accepting this thought and feeling even worse,
take a moment to check it. Try asking yourself:
How likely is the outcome you're worried about?
Is there good evidence for it?
Are there other explanations or possible outcomes?
Is there good evidence for alternative ways of looking at the
situation?
What would you say to a friend if they were thinking this way?
4. Change them
Finally, see if you can change the thought for a neutral or more positive one.
Think back over the questions you asked yourself when you were
checking your thought and see how you can reframe the situation.
For the work example, this could be something like: "I'm prepared. I've
put a lot of work in and I'm going to do my best" or "I've been in this job for a
while and completed lots of important tasks before, so no one will think I'm
a failure."
5. Us e a thought re cord to he lp
Don't worry if you find the "Catch it, check it, change it" process difficult at first. Each step can take time to get
used to, but with practice it will get easier.
Completing a thought record can help with any part you find tricky. This is a short, structured
exercise that uses a set of 7 prompts to help you examine the evidence for your thoughts
and feelings towards a situation, and how you can begin to reframe them.
6. Don't worry if you cannot change a thought
Sometimes you will be able to change an unhelpful thought to a positive or neutral one, but this will not always
be possible.
Don't worry if you cannot change your thought: there are no right or wrong answers,
and changing the thought is not the only way you can benefit from this process.
Reframing your thoughts is about learning to think more flexibly and be more in
control. If you can learn to identify and separate unhelpful thoughts from helpful ones,
you can find a different way to look at the situation.
This will not resolve the problems you face but can help break a negative spiral and give you a
new perspective – things are often not as bad as we think.
A thought record is a common cognitive
behavioural therapy (CBT) exercise.
It's a practical way to capture and examine your
thoughts and feelings about a situation, and your
evidence for them, using a set of 7 prompts.
Thought
record exercise Doing this can help you understand how linked our
thoughts and behaviours can be, and how they
influence each other.
Completing this process is a good way to recognise
when thoughts and behaviours are unhelpful, and
begin to challenge and reframe them in different
ways.
How to complete a thought record
Before you start, make sure you have a situation in mind that you want to work
through. You can use this for any difficult situation or problem you have had recently.
You can complete the exercise just by thinking through the 7 steps below in your head
if you like, but it's usually best if you have some way of writing things down. This
means you can keep hold of it and refer back to it later if you want to.
When you're ready, start working through the steps in order. Take your time and try to
be as honest as you can.
Example:
• 1. The situation – what happened?
• For example: "I am annoyed at myself for forgetting to run an errand."
• 2. My feelings – how this made you feel at first
• For example: "Frustrated, stupid."
• 3. Unhelpful thoughts I had
• For example: "I never get anything right. I'm useless and cannot be trusted with simple tasks."
• 4. Evidence to support my unhelpful thoughts
• For example: "It's not the first time I've forgotten something like this."
• 5. Evidence against my unhelpful thoughts
• For example: "I remembered everything else I needed to do. I'm usually very reliable when it comes to errands and don't
put anything off."
• 6. Alternative, more realistic or neutral thoughts
• For example: "I remember to do far more errands than I forget. It's happened before but not often – it's just that the
forgotten ones stick in my memory. Most of the time I am a trustworthy and reliable person."
• 7. How I feel now – how your feelings have changed after completing your thought record
• For example: "Calmer, more confident in myself – I am neither stupid nor useless. Accepting that everyone forgets things
from time to time."
