Cognitive distortions are irrational or exaggerated thought patterns that can lead to negative emotions and behaviors. They are often based on false assumptions or misunderstandings of reality and can cause significant distress and problems in daily functioning. Shifting these distortions is crucial for improving mental health and overall well-being. By recognizing and challenging these thought patterns, we can develop a more balanced and realistic perspective, leading to increased self-awareness, better decision-making, and improved relationships. There are many tools that we can use to help us challenge and shift cognitive distortions, but one that can be particularly effective is called Putting Thoughts on Trial.

Putting Thoughts On Trial

Putting Thoughts on Trial is a cognitive-behavioral technique used to challenge and restructure negative thought patterns.

To use this technique, we have to follow step by step. The process looks like this:

Step 1: The Thought – Identify the thought you are having that is negative, causing you distress, or that you think is potentially a cognitive distortion. This is an important step to this process because if we are unsure what thought we are putting on trial the entire process becomes muddled.

Step 2: Identifying Evidence – This is where we identify all of the evidence, both evidence that supports the thought being potentially accurate and evidence suggesting the thought may not be entirely accurate. An extremely important part of this process is recognizing that the evidence you are acknowledging must be objectively factual evidence. That means we are only considering what we know for a fact and what would hold up in a proverbial courtroom. The evidence cannot be an assumption, it cannot be what you *think* is going on or how you *feel* about it – the evidence must be concrete facts.

A helpful approach to step 2 is to make two columns side by side – one for evidence suggesting the thought is accurate (we’d call this ‘the defense’) and one for evidence suggesting the thought may not be accurate (the prosecution).

Step 3: Verdict – Simply stated, based on the evidence, was the thought entirely accurate or is there a more accurate thought to focus on?

Step 4: Alternative Thought – Here we are intentional about identifying a more accurate thought and shifting our focus to acknowledging the reality of this thought.

Practice

Using tools like Putting Thoughts On Trial can be extremely helpful in shifting cognitive distortions, but this doesn’t happen naturally. Using a technique like this is something we have to be intentional about and put the work in to shift our thinking over time. It requires practice. The great thing about it is, like most things, the more you practice it the easier it becomes. Initially it may be helpful to sit down and write it out, but eventually it becomes a tool you can use in your head.

Conclusion

Putting Thoughts On Trial is an effective technique to help us shift our thinking over time, but it takes practice and effort. It is not easy and nobody is perfect at it. If you’re struggling with mental health problems such as depression or anxiety, this work may be difficult to do on your own. A therapist trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be helpful in learning to apply techniques to shift negative thinking and cognitive distortions.