Avoid these thinking traps
There are certain patterns of thinking that keep us stuck in loops of stress. Here's a mega-thread of common thinking traps to reframe or refrain from.
Each week, paid subscribers will receive practical strategies to help you address the topic of the week. This week, I’m sharing a list of common thinking traps along with the reframes to help you move through them. You can find the Weekly Practice at the bottom of this article.
Here’s the thing about our brains…
Sometimes we love them and sometimes we’re annoyed by them. Sometimes they help us achieve our goals and sometimes they keep us stuck.
Thinking traps
Our brains are incredibly powerful. They’re our internal computer system that allows us to process information at lightning speeds. When the information we are trying to process is too stressful, overwhelming, confusing, or partial, our brain tries to take shortcuts in order to conserve energy. When the brain takes shortcuts, we are more prone to falling into thinking traps.
Thinking traps are ways of thinking that feel more helpful than they are. Thinking traps have a suction to them; they cause us to fall into a pattern of stuckness and prevent us from finding viable solutions or more realistic ways of thinking. I think of these thinking traps as similar to mouse traps, bear traps, and pit traps. Some of them hurt. Some of them have a strong hold on us. And some of them are designed to keep us stuck and trapped in place.
Common thinking traps
Here is a list of common thinking traps:
Labelling: Assigning inaccurate titles or categories to yourself, others, or a situation. Examples: “I'm such a failure.” / “My brother is a narcissist.”
Jumping to conclusions: Making assumptions about yourself, others, or a situation. Examples: “This is why she said that.” / “He hates me.”
Fortune telling: Trying to predict outcomes you don’t have have any control over. Examples: “I’m going to fail.” / “I know how this will end.”
Magical thinking: Making connections or building superstition between things that have no causal link. Examples: “If I ignore it, it will go away.” / “My bad thoughts made this bad thing happen.”
Reading subtext: Assuming you know the intentions behind people’s words and actions. Examples: “This is what she meant by that.” / “By filling in the blanks, I can assume what she was referring to.”
Personalizing: Making something about you when there is no evidence to suggest you’re involved in the situation or storyline. Examples: “This is about me.” / “She’s trying to say I’m annoying by telling me a story about her annoying friend.”
Emotional reasoning: Using our emotions to make something appear more logical and rational. Examples: “I felt anxious at the party, so that must mean people don’t like me.” / “I feel negative so that must make it true.”
Catastrophizing: Assuming that the worst or most negative outcome will occur. Examples: "It's all over." / “My presentation is going to be horrible!”
Awfulizing: Making grand and sweepingly negative statements about the state of things. Examples: "Everyone and everything sucks." / *There’s no food in the fridge* “Well, I guess we’re not having dinner.” / “It was SO bad!”
Disqualifying: Ignoring the evidence that contradicts your immediate beliefs or conclusions. Examples: “That doesn’t count.” / “Well, that only happened a few times.”
Minimizing & Maximizing: Shrinking or exaggerating the size of something in order to appear more confident or correct in your conclusions.
Minimizing examples: “It’s not that big of a deal.” / “Don’t worry about that.”Maximizing examples: “You’re the best person ever!” / “This is SO serious!”
Polarization: Thinking in absolutes and polar extremes. Also called absolutism or black and white thinking. Key words to watch for: Always, only, never, have to, and should. Examples: “She always does that!” / “We have to do it this way.” / “There is only one way.” / “I never win.”
Weekly Practice
Each week, paid subscribers receive therapy strategies for the topic of the week.
Above, I shared a list of common thinking traps. Here are the thinking reframes that will help you move through them:
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