More on Cognitive Restructuring

Introduction

Cognitive restructuring is a psychological technique used to help people identify, challenge and change unhelpful or distorted patterns of thinking.

It involves a process of re-framing thoughts to shift from negative, automatic or irrational beliefs to more balanced, realistic and constructive ones.

It comes from cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and is widely applied in personal development, stress management, resilience training and organisational change.

Key Principles

• Thoughts influence feelings and
• Automatic thoughts are often negative or distorted.
• Changing thoughts can change emotional responses and actions.

It is based on the idea that thoughts affect emotions and behaviours. By changing thoughts, people can change how they feel and act.

At some stage most people experience negative thoughts

“…Many negative thoughts we experience are not accurate representations of reality. Rather, they may occur because of faulty thinking. Catastrophising, generalising, all or nothing thinking and confusing feelings with facts……we convince ourselves of something that is simply untrue or inaccurate…”

Elaine Houston, 2025

Steps in Cognitive Reconstructing

1. Identify the thought
   Notice automatic thoughts (often negative) that arise in response to a situation.
   Example: “I’ll never be good at this presentation.”
2. Examine the evidence,
   Ask: Is this always true? What evidence supports or contradicts this thought?
   Example: “I have successfully explained ideas in meetings before.”
3. Challenge cognitive distortions
   Look for common traps such as all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophising, overgeneralisation or mind reading.
4. Reframe the thought
   Replace the distorted thought with a more balanced, rational, constructive, helpful, accurate perspective.
   Example: “I may feel nervous, but I’ve prepared well and I can handle this.”
5. Practise and reinforce
   Repeatedly applying this process builds new thinking habits, improving confidence and emotional resilience.

Example in Everyday Life

Situation: You make a small mistake at work.

• Automatic thought: “I’m terrible at my job.”
• Restructure: “Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. This is a chance to learn and improve.”

Some questions to assess automatic thoughts

• "...Is this thought based on facts or your feelings?
• Do you think this way out of habit?
• In what ways might this sort be an exaggeration of what is happening?
• It may help to consider other people's perspective. What would a friend say to you if he/she knew you were having these thoughts? What evidence might he/she point to that would suggest these thoughts were not accurate?
• What would you say to a friend or loved one who thought this way?
• How might other people interpret the situation? How might they think differently?
• Is this helpful in any way for you to think like this?
• Are you viewing the situation as black or white when, in reality, it's more complicated?
• Are these thoughts about something that you can control to some degree? If not, is there any point thinking like this? If this is something you can control, what steps can you take to improve things?
• Even if this thought is accurate, what is the worst that could happen? Is this outcome that bad? How would you respond if the worst happened?...”

Elaine Houston, 2025

Applications

• Mental health (managing and reducing anxiety, depression and stress.)
• Leadership & change management (helping teams adapt to challenges by reframing setbacks as learning opportunities.)
• Personal growth (building self-confidence, optimism and resilience.)

Summary

Cognitive restructuring is about catching negative thoughts, questioning their accuracy and replacing them with healthier, more constructive alternatives.

It involves the Cognitive Restructuring Flow:

Situation → Automatic Thought → Emotion/Feeling → Challenge & Reframe → New Thought → Healthier Emotion/Action