Introduction:
Clark (2013) defines cognitive reframing, or restructuring, as a psychological process which can help clients to discover, challenge and consequently modify, or otherwise replace, existing unhelpful or otherwise negative thought patterns.
Many of us experience negative thoughts in response to events or phenomena in our lives – this can take the form of the familiar ‘knot’ in one’s stomach before an interview or presentation, restless nights staying up after an email from one’s employer, or a rush of self-doubt and self-judgement after scrolling social media, comparing our own lives with that of social media influencers.
These moments of anxiety and stress stem from automated patterns of unhelpful negative thoughts and feelings. However, these patterns of thought and feeling can be reframed into more balanced, realistic thought patterns – a practice known as cognitive reframing, which underpins CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) can help one to overcome these negative thought patterns and develop more balanced, positive ways of thinking.
What is cognitive reframing?
Cognitive reframing is a psychological technique, often employed in cognitive behavioural therapy to change unhelpful or negative patterns of thought or behaviour into more positive, realistic thought and behavioural patterns.
The first step in the cognitive reframing process is to identify unhelpful, or distorted, patterns of thought which can impact one’s behaviours and feelings. The second step, then, is to challenge the thought, critically examining evidence for and against it; this helps one to question the validity of the thought in regards to their situation, and/or examine the positives of the situation compared to the negatives.
The third step is to replace the originally unhelpful or negative thought with a more positive thought; this often involves finding a more positive way to interpret the situation originally perceived of as negative. Arguably, this is the goal of cognitive reframing – one must bear in mind that reframing is a psychological skill which can be trained, honed and strengthened over time. By consistently identifying, critiquing and replacing negative unhelpful thoughts with more positive ones, cognitive reframing can help you to develop more balanced, positive thought patterns.
Key Aspects of Cognitive Reframing:
1. Identification of Negative Thoughts
The first step of cognitive reframing, as mentioned, is to recognise and pinpoint distorted, or otherwise negative, thoughts which are contributing to psychological distress. By being aware of these negative thoughts, one can take action to critique and re-evaluate them in light of the positives and negatives regarding the event, or situation, which these thoughts concern.
Evaluating Evidence For and Against Negative Thoughts
By critically evaluating and examining the evidence surrounding these negative thoughts, one can determine whether these negative thoughts are grounded in reality, or not; this can enable one to develop a more balanced, grounded perspective on the situation.
Developing Alternative Perspectives
By considering how others may perceive these events, or otherwise viewing a communication, event or phenomenon from a different perspective, this can facilitate the development of more balanced, positive responses to a given situation, or interpretations.
Challenging Negative Presumptions
Questioning the underlying negative assumptions, or beliefs, which drive negative thought is essential for restructuring one’s thought patterns, and underpins cognitive reframing as a psychological process.
Socratic Questioning
This is an effective cognitive restructuring technique (Ackerman, 2018) which allows one to challenge errors in thinking with irrational, illogical or harmful outcomes – the basic questions asked in Socratic questioning can include:
- Is this thought realistic?
- Am I basing my thoughts on facts, or on feelings?
- What is the evidence for this particular thought?
- Could I be misinterpreting, or misconstruing, the evidence for this thought?
- Am I viewing this situation in black-and-white when, really, it is more complicated than it seems?
- Am I having this thought out of habit, or do the facts support it?
Thoughts can be conceived of as a ‘running dialogue’ in our minds (ibid. 2018) and can come and go so quickly that we can barely understand them, let alone have time to address them in our minds.
Thought Journalling
By keeping diaries or journals of our day-to-day thoughts, otherwise known as thought records, we can become aware of cognitive distortions in our thought processes which we were otherwise not aware of or able to consider; this is a necessary first step towards restructuring negative thought processes (Myles and Shafran, 2015).
The “What If?” Technique
Decatastrophising, or asking “what is the worst that could happen?”, allowing a scenario to mentally unfold to completion (Dattilo and Freeman, 1992) can help you to get an idea of the outcome of an event, reduce unreasonable or otherwise irrational anxiety surrounding the event, and allow you to see that even the worst-case scenario is manageable.
Evidence-Based Benefits of Cognitive Reframing:
The benefits of cognitive reframing include improved mood, reduced anxiety and stress alongside increased resilience, in addition to improving problem-solving skills.
By changing negative thought patterns into more positive, balanced thought patterns, this can lead to a reduction in negative thoughts and correspondingly, an increase in positive, balanced thought patterns.
On this note, cognitive reframing can help you to reduce anxiety and stress levels by critiquing the negative thoughts which lead you to experience anxiety or stress; by developing more positive, realistic perspectives on previously anxiety-provoking and/or stressful events, you can become more resilient in the face of challenges.
By helping you to see situations previously conceived of as challenging or problematic in a more balanced light, reframing can help you to see these situations in a more constructive and objective manner, leading to better problem-solving skills overall.
FAQ
How do you reframe negative thoughts, or a negative mindset?
Firstly, catch the automatic thought, then challenge its truthfulness: “Do I have all the facts?” Next, generate a more balanced statement based on evidence and kindness, such as “I’m learning and growing, not failing”.
How do I rewire my brain to stop thinking negative thoughts?
By regularly practicingcognitive reframing alongside gratitude practice and maintaining mindful awareness of your thoughts, feelings and environment, this can helpyou to form new neural pathways which favour balanced thinking over time. Via combining self-guided techniques with counselling and psychotherapeutic support, you can maximise the depth and speed of change.
References:
Ackerman, C. E. (2018) ‘Cognitive restructuring techniques for reframing thoughts’, PositivePsychology.com, 12 February. Available at: https://positivepsychology.com/cbt-cognitive-restructuring-cognitive-distortions/ (Accessed: 4 May 2025).
Clark, D. A. (2013) ‘Cognitive restructuring’, in S. G. Hoffman, D. J. A. Dozois, W. Rief and J. Smits (eds.) The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, pp. 1–22.
Dattilio, F.M. & Freeman, A. (1992) ‘Introduction to cognitive therapy’, in Freeman, A. & Dattilio, F.M. (eds.) Comprehensive Casebook of Cognitive Therapy. Boston, MA: Springer, pp. 3–11.
Myles, P. & Shafran, R. (2015)The CBT Handbook: A comprehensive guide to using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to overcome depression, anxiety and anger. London: Hachette.
