Thinking Traps
Good for overwhelm & negativity
5:38
We all have habitual and sometimes rigid ways of thinking and we know from the field of Cognitive and Positive Psychology that the way we interpret life events has a lot to do with our resilience. Here are 6 common types of Thinking Traps (adapted from Reivich, K. (2021) “Resilience Skills in a Time of Uncertainty”. University of Pennsylvania via Coursera).
Catastrophizing:
If you tend to be more pessimistic this one may be at play. This is the style of thinking in which you waste critical energy ruminating. You're going around and around on the worst-case outcomes of a situation, generating anxiety and this rumination often blocks you from taking any action. Problems become so much bigger than what they actually are. What is happening here is that you are overestimate the threat in the situation while at the same time underestimating your own resources to cope.
Helplessness:
This thinking trap is when you believe that you have absolutely no control over anything in this event. There's nothing you can do about it. This can kill any motivation to do anything about the problems in your life and you might find yourself sitting around a lot without the energy to figure out solutions.
The “ME” Trap:
This is when we think we are the sole cause of every setback or problem. In difficult situations, there are almost always many different contributing factors, some of which may be due to us. But with this thinking trap, we overestimate our role and have a brain bias that we are the sole cause. People tend to experience a lot of guilt and sadness which leads them to withdraw.
The “THEM” Trap:
This is the flip-side of the “me” trap. In this trap, you believe that other people or circumstance is the sole cause of your setbacks and problems. So in the me trap it's all your fault, in them trap, every problem, every setback is caused by other people or circumstance. What habitually happens is that you may find yourself blaming other people, blaming the world, blaming circumstance, blaming the weather, blaming politics, blaming whatever for the problems that you're confronting. It leads to a lot of anger and aggression. So if you fall into this trap a lot, you probably over experience the emotion of anger.
Denial:
This is how we fool ourselves that things aren’t really that bad. We kind of have our head in the sand. Looking the facts squarely in the eye is too much so we come up with ways to convince ourselves that it’s not how it is. Honestly, denial is a normal part of our process when confronted with things that are really big. The problem of course is when we stay in denial, reality catches up to us and we eventually have to deal with the consequence.
Mind Reading:
Mind reading is assuming you know what another person is thinking or expecting the other person to know what you are thinking. Often you're assuming they're thinking something negative of you. When we do this we tend to not ask questions or clarify things, we just go about our business acting like what we think about the other person is true. If we have it wrong we can get into trouble. Take the extra time to validate your assumptions.
Ways to Work With These Mind Traps:
After identifying the automatic thought, challenge yourself to find the evidence, see it another way, or make a plan to deal with it.
1. Fact find: “this isn’t fully true because….”
2. Perspective take: “another way to look at this is….”
3. If, then: “If (this worst case thought happens) then (I will…..)”
NLR Rub:
This uses an acupressure point to release the intensity of the belief. Rub the point shown in the diagram in a circular motion, in the direction towards the shoulder, while saying to yourself 3 times “even if (insert the belief), I deeply and completely accept myself”.
Then invite space to inquire about this thought, where do I feel it in my body? How did I come to believe this? What’s the root of it? Is it mine or was this taught to me by the way others treated me? Is there a memory attached to it? You could use the Tapping technique (taught in the Tapping video) to neutralize the coupling.
Disclaimer
Information in these videos is for educational purposes only and is provided only as general information for stress reduction. It is not intended to create and does not constitute a professional relationship between Jean Manz, LMFT and the viewer and it is not meant to diagnose or treat any individual disease. Stop the techniques at any time if you feel discomfort. Please consult a medical or mental health professional if you are concerned about your health or mental and emotional well-being.
