How to Perform Behavioral Experiments to Open Your Mind

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What you think and believe isn’t always true. But holding onto some of those beliefs might cause you to suffer.

When this happens, psychotherapists sometimes encourage clients to perform behavioral experiments that test the reality of their beliefs. It’s a powerfulcognitive behavioral therapytechnique that can help people recognize that their assumptions aren’t necessarily accurate.

For example, someone who believes they are destined to be an “insomniac” might try several different behavioral experiments in an attempt to uncover whether specific strategies might help them sleep better, like exercising in the morning and turning off their screens an hour before bedtime.

So, how can you learn these behavioral techniques to break yourself out of your self-limiting beliefs? Read on to find out.

How It Works

The behavioral experiments we are talking about are rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy, a technique that focuses on your thoughts and beliefs that are negatively affecting you and learning to reframe those thoughts and beliefs so that they aren’t so negative.Cognitive behavioral therapistshelp you become aware of your problems and the thoughts, emotions, and beliefs about your problems.

Therapists often ask questions that help clients look for exceptions to their rules and assumptions. For example, if you say, “No one ever likes me,” your therapist might ask, “When was a time when someone did like you?” This can help you see that your assumptions aren’t 100% accurate.

But changing thought patterns isn’t always effective in changing deeply held core beliefs. This is in part because we’re constantly looking for evidence that supports our beliefs. For example, someone who believes no one ever likes her might automatically think not getting a response from a text message is further proof that people dislike her. Meanwhile, she may view an invitation to a party as a “sympathy invite” from someone who feels sorry for her, not as proof that people actually like her.

When changing thought patterns aren’t effective in changing a person’s beliefs, changing their behavior first may be the best option.

If you accomplish something you assumed you couldn’t do, you may begin to see yourself differently. Or seeing that people don’t respond the way you assumed they would may help you let go of your unhealthy beliefs about other people.

Using behavioral experiments to gather evidence can chip away at self-limiting beliefs and help you begin to see yourself, other people, or the world in a different manner.

Studies show that cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in treating a variety of issues, including anxiety,depression, sleep disorders,substance abuse issues, andPTSD.

Press Play For Advice On Reframing

The Process

No matter what type of behavioral experiment you are conducting, you and your therapist usually work together on the following process:

You and your therapist will work together to design the experiment. Then, you’ll conduct the experiment and monitor the results. You and your therapist will then debrief together and discuss how the results affect your belief system.

Your therapist may prescribe further experiments or ongoing experiments to continue to assess unhealthy beliefs.

Examples

Psychotherapistsmay assist you in designing a behavioral experiment that can counteract almost any distorted way of thinking. Here are a few examples of behavioral experiments:

A Word From Verywell

If you’re interested in testing some of the potentially self-limiting beliefs you’ve been holding onto, try designing your own behavioral experiment. If you’re not certain how to get started, want some help designing the experiment, or would like to learn more about how to recognize irrational beliefs, then contact a cognitive behavioral therapist.

If you aren’t sure where to find one, speak to your physician. Your doctor may be able to refer a cognitive behavioral therapist who can assist you.

The 6 Stages of Change

SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.David D, Cristea I, Hofmann SG.Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Is the Current Gold Standard of Psychotherapy.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2018;9. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00004.Hofmann SG, Asnaani A, Vonk IJJ, Sawyer AT, Fang A.The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses.Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2013;36(5):427-440. doi:10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1.

Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.David D, Cristea I, Hofmann SG.Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Is the Current Gold Standard of Psychotherapy.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2018;9. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00004.Hofmann SG, Asnaani A, Vonk IJJ, Sawyer AT, Fang A.The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses.Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2013;36(5):427-440. doi:10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

David D, Cristea I, Hofmann SG.Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Is the Current Gold Standard of Psychotherapy.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2018;9. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00004.Hofmann SG, Asnaani A, Vonk IJJ, Sawyer AT, Fang A.The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses.Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2013;36(5):427-440. doi:10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1.

David D, Cristea I, Hofmann SG.Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Is the Current Gold Standard of Psychotherapy.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2018;9. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00004.

Hofmann SG, Asnaani A, Vonk IJJ, Sawyer AT, Fang A.The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses.Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2013;36(5):427-440. doi:10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1.

Hannah Owens, LMSW

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