Cognitive restructuring
'Cognition' is a word used to denote a thought or belief, and 'restructuring' involves challenging a cognition by looking at the evidence for or against it. The basic idea behind cognitive restructuring is that thoughts themselves are not facts; you need to consider whether the thoughts you are having are true and to consider whether there are any other ways to thinking about a particular situation. At first this can be a real challenge: we often believe what we think and don't question our own thoughts. However, often our thinking is biased, and with perfectionism it can be biased towards thinking too negatively and harshly about yourself.
End of Session Three
This session introduced the "All or Nothing" thinking style.
All or nothing thinking is a big part of perfectionism as it places behaviours and achievements into two categories: good or bad, success or failure, acceptable or unacceptable.
Session Four will cover self-criticism and self-compassion.
Take home message
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All or Nothing thinking is where you think in extremes
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All or Nothing thinking creates rigid rules about how you live your life
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Turning rules into guidelines improve flexibility in your thinking and allows room for you to be less than perfect
Before you go...
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