Understanding Cognitive Restructuring

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow It WorksTips for PracticingEffectiveness

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

How It Works

Tips for Practicing

Effectiveness

Cognitive restructuring is an essential part ofcognitive behavioral therapy(CBT). It is considered to be one of the most effective treatment options for conditions likesocial anxiety disorder(SAD).

Also known as cognitive reframing, cognitive restructuring is a useful process for identifying and understanding unhelpful thoughts and for challenging and replacing our automatic thoughts. These thoughts are calledcognitive distortions.

The average person usually brushes off cognitive distortions within a few minutes. If you live with a mental illness like SAD, however, you may have a difficult time letting go of these thoughts. In these cases, cognitive restructuring can help you minimize the occurrences and effects of these negative thoughts.

At a GlanceUnderlying your negative thoughts is a core belief about yourself and your ability to function in social and performance situations. Once your thoughts and actions are changed, your core beliefs will also eventually shift. Cognitive restructuring is not an easy skill to learn, but over time, cognitive restructuring and CBT can have a significant impact on your social anxiety.

At a Glance

Underlying your negative thoughts is a core belief about yourself and your ability to function in social and performance situations. Once your thoughts and actions are changed, your core beliefs will also eventually shift. Cognitive restructuring is not an easy skill to learn, but over time, cognitive restructuring and CBT can have a significant impact on your social anxiety.

How Cognitive Restructuring Works

The idea behind cognitive restructuring is that if you can change your automatic thoughts, you’ll be able to influence your emotions and behaviors.

While experts recommended that you work with acognitive behavioral therapistwhen practicing cognitive restructuring, you can use the technique yourself to reframe less serious, day-to-day negative thoughts. For example, you can use cognitive restructuring to mentally prepare yourself for a party or a public presentation.

Negative Automatic Thoughts and Social Anxiety

Identify Automatic Thoughts

The first step is to record your negative thoughts in ajournaland describe the situation that triggered them. Determine if certain patterns exist.

You may find that you are OK in work settings with colleagues you know, but get anxious in social settings like parties where you don’t know anyone. It might be thatpublic speakingscares you, but not mingling with strangers.

Identify Cognitive Distortions

After reviewing the notes you’ve written, the next step is to identify what parts of your thought you could be distorting or misinterpreting.

Other common cognitive distortions include:

Dispute the Thoughts

The next step is to determine if your thoughts are true and what evidence supports them. It can help to ask yourself the following questions:

If you’re prone toblack-and-white thinking, you could identify a few examples of times that you succeeded in your social or professional life. You might then conclude, “Sometimes I get tongue-tied in social situations, but not all the time.”

Replace the Thoughts

The final step is to replace each of your initial negative thoughts with accurate andpositive affirmations. In this case, you might replace “I never know what to say at social functions” with “Sometimes I surprise myself and I know what to say.”

Tips for Practicing Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring is an intensive process. There is power simply in the process of cognitive restructuring, but employing other tools and practices can help you make the most of it:

Effectiveness of Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring has successfully been used to treat a variety of conditions, including SAD. A 2014 study showed that cognitive restructuring reduced post-event processing (PEP).PEP refers to the reflective thoughts that you have after a social situation, such as “I screwed it all up” or “Everyone saw how nervous I was.”

Another study conducted in 2016 study suggests that it’s not so much replacing negative thoughts that are important, but rather going into situations and gradually having anxiety lessen.

While we don’t know the precise reason cognitive restructuring works, it is likely a combination of thinking more rationally, exposure to anxiety-provoking situations and engaging in less ruminative afterthoughts.

If persistent negative thinking is something you struggle with, it’s definitely worth seeking professional help. Cognitive restructuring in the context of CBT could provide significant relief.

2 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.Shikatani B, Antony MM, Kuo JR, Cassin SE.The impact of cognitive restructuring and mindfulness strategies on postevent processing and affect in social anxiety disorder.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(6):570-579. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.05.012Barrera TL, Szafranski DD, Ratcliff CG, Garnaat SL, Norton PJ.An experimental comparison of techniques: Cognitive defusion, cognitive restructuring, and in-vivo exposure for social anxiety.Behav Cogn Psychother. 2016;44(2):249-254. doi:10.1017/S1352465814000630Additional ReadingHuppert JD.The building blocks of treatment in cognitive-behavioral therapy.Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2009;46(4):245-250.Norton AR, Abbott MJ.The efficacy of imagery rescripting compared to cognitive restructuring for social anxiety disorder.J Anxiety Disord. 2016;40:18-28. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.03.009

2 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.Shikatani B, Antony MM, Kuo JR, Cassin SE.The impact of cognitive restructuring and mindfulness strategies on postevent processing and affect in social anxiety disorder.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(6):570-579. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.05.012Barrera TL, Szafranski DD, Ratcliff CG, Garnaat SL, Norton PJ.An experimental comparison of techniques: Cognitive defusion, cognitive restructuring, and in-vivo exposure for social anxiety.Behav Cogn Psychother. 2016;44(2):249-254. doi:10.1017/S1352465814000630Additional ReadingHuppert JD.The building blocks of treatment in cognitive-behavioral therapy.Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2009;46(4):245-250.Norton AR, Abbott MJ.The efficacy of imagery rescripting compared to cognitive restructuring for social anxiety disorder.J Anxiety Disord. 2016;40:18-28. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.03.009

Shikatani B, Antony MM, Kuo JR, Cassin SE.The impact of cognitive restructuring and mindfulness strategies on postevent processing and affect in social anxiety disorder.J Anxiety Disord. 2014;28(6):570-579. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.05.012Barrera TL, Szafranski DD, Ratcliff CG, Garnaat SL, Norton PJ.An experimental comparison of techniques: Cognitive defusion, cognitive restructuring, and in-vivo exposure for social anxiety.Behav Cogn Psychother. 2016;44(2):249-254. doi:10.1017/S1352465814000630

Barrera TL, Szafranski DD, Ratcliff CG, Garnaat SL, Norton PJ.An experimental comparison of techniques: Cognitive defusion, cognitive restructuring, and in-vivo exposure for social anxiety.Behav Cogn Psychother. 2016;44(2):249-254. doi:10.1017/S1352465814000630

Huppert JD.The building blocks of treatment in cognitive-behavioral therapy.Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2009;46(4):245-250.Norton AR, Abbott MJ.The efficacy of imagery rescripting compared to cognitive restructuring for social anxiety disorder.J Anxiety Disord. 2016;40:18-28. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.03.009

Huppert JD.The building blocks of treatment in cognitive-behavioral therapy.Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2009;46(4):245-250.

Norton AR, Abbott MJ.The efficacy of imagery rescripting compared to cognitive restructuring for social anxiety disorder.J Anxiety Disord. 2016;40:18-28. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.03.009

Meet Our Review Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

What is your feedback?

At a Glance#

How Cognitive Restructuring Works#

Identify Automatic Thoughts#

Identify Cognitive Distortions#

Dispute the Thoughts#

Replace the Thoughts#

Tips for Practicing Cognitive Restructuring#

Effectiveness of Cognitive Restructuring#