Thoughts are powerful, but they are not facts.
This guide, written by psychological advisor Tenneille Quin for Happiness Co, helps readers identify and manage distorted thinking patterns.
It normalises these “unhelpful stories” as common brain shortcuts designed for survival but prone to exaggeration.
Common Thinking Patterns
The text categorises distorted thoughts into four distinct groups:
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- Patterns that Predict: Mind reading (assuming negative thoughts from others), jumping to conclusions (assuming outcomes without evidence), and catastrophising (defaulting to the worst-case scenario).
- Patterns that Blame: Personalisation (taking unearned blame), the inner critic (harsh self-judgment), strict “shoulds” and “musts” and labelling (defining identity by a single action).
- Patterns that Filter: Mental filtering (zooming in on one negative detail) and magnification/minimisation (blowing flaws up while shrinking successes).
- Patterns that Generalise: The “always/never” story (speaking in absolutes) and emotional reasoning (treating strong feelings as facts).
Practical Management Tools
Rather than fighting or fixing thoughts, the guide recommends altering how you relate to them. It provides six practical exercises to create mental distance:
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- Name the story: Identify the thought pattern when it appears (e.g., “Ah, there’s that ‘I’m not good enough’ story again” ).
- Change the voice: Replay the thought in a silly cartoon or dramatic narrator voice to reduce its power .
- Add a prefix: Change “I’m going to fail” to “I’m having the thought that I’m going to fail” to separate yourself from the belief.
- Grounding: Bring your focus back to physical senses and immediate physical surroundings.
- Speak to a friend: Imagine what compassionate advice or perspective you would offer a loved one facing the same thought.
- Put it on trial: Act as a courtroom judge, laying out evidence for (defence) and against (prosecution) the thought to see if it holds up.
