Cognitive Distortions

The 12 cognitive distortions

1. 01

   All-or-nothing thinking

   Seeing things in black-and-white categories with no middle ground.

   Example — 'If I'm not perfect at this, I'm a complete failure.'

2. 02

   Overgeneralization

   Treating a single event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.

   Example — 'I bombed that interview — I'll never get hired anywhere.'

3. 03

   Mental filter

   Picking out a single negative detail and dwelling on it until everything else darkens.

   Example — Getting nine compliments and one critique, and only replaying the critique.

4. 04

   Disqualifying the positive

   Rejecting good experiences by insisting they 'don't count.'

   Example — 'They were just being polite — they didn't really mean it.'

5. 05

   Jumping to conclusions

   Mind reading (assuming what others think) or fortune telling (predicting bad outcomes) without evidence.

   Example — 'She didn't text back — she's mad at me.' / 'I just know this is going to go badly.'

6. 06

   Magnification & catastrophizing

   Blowing problems out of proportion or imagining the worst possible outcome.

   Example — 'I made a typo in that email — my boss is going to fire me.'

7. 07

   Emotional reasoning

   Treating feelings as facts: 'I feel it, therefore it must be true.'

   Example — 'I feel like a failure, so I must be one.'

8. 08

   Should statements

   Holding rigid rules about how you or others 'should' behave; produces guilt or anger.

   Example — 'I should always have it together.' / 'They shouldn't be that upset.'

9. 09

   Labeling

   Attaching a global, fixed label to yourself or someone else based on one event.

   Example — 'I forgot to call back — I'm such a loser.'

10. 10

    Personalization

    Taking responsibility for events that weren't entirely your fault.

    Example — 'My friend is in a bad mood — it must be something I did.'

11. 11

    Blaming

    Holding others fully responsible for your pain, or yourself responsible for things outside your control.

    Example — 'You made me feel this way.' / 'It's all my fault the project failed.'

12. 12

    Unfair comparisons

    Comparing yourself to an idealized standard or someone's highlight reel, then judging the gap.

    Example — 'Everyone else has their life figured out by now.'

When to use it

• Early in CBT, during the psychoeducation phase — usually session 2 or 3.
• As a paired reference card alongside the thought record worksheet.
• With teens and young adults learning to name self-talk for the first time.
• Couples or family work, when one partner's catastrophizing is fueling the other's defensiveness.
• Anyone whose self-talk has a recurring flavor (always perfectionistic, always all-or-nothing, etc.).
• Skip as a stand-alone in acute trauma activation — stabilize first, then return to cognitive work.

How to use it

1. 1
   Print and hand out

   Walk the client through the list in session, pausing on the 2–3 that ring loudest.

2. 2
   Mark the top three

   Have them circle their personal top three — the distortions they recognize as 'theirs.'

3. 3
   Pair with a thought record

   Next time they fill out a thought record, ask them to name which distortion the automatic thought is doing.

4. 4
   Practice the reframe

   For each top-three distortion, write one sentence the client could say back to themselves when they catch it in real time.

5. 5
   Track frequency

   Weekly, count how often each top-three showed up. Awareness alone reduces frequency over 4–6 weeks.

6. 6
   Keep visible

   Fridge, desk, phone wallpaper — wherever the client will glance at it during a difficult moment.

Frequently asked questions

Related worksheets