You can use any set of questions to help clients evaluate their thinking, but the lists can be helpful as they guide you and the client to

• examine the validity of the automatic thought,
• explore the possibility of other interpretations or viewpoints,
• decatastrophize the problem situation,
• recognize the impact of believing the automatic thought,
• gain distance from the thought, and
• take steps to solve the problem.

All-or-nothing thinking
Also called black-and-white, polarized, or dichotomous thinking. You view a situation in only two categories instead of on a continuum.
Example: “If I’m not a total success, I’m a failure.”
Catastrophizing (fortune-telling)
Also called fortune-telling. You predict the future negatively without considering other, more likely outcomes.
Example: “I’ll be so upset, I won’t be able to function at all.”
Disqualifying or discounting the positive
You unreasonably tell yourself that positive experiences, deeds, or qualities do not count.
Example: “I did that project well, but that doesn’t mean I’m competent; I just got lucky.”
Emotional reasoning
You think something must be true because you “feel” (actually believe) it so strongly, ignoring or discounting evidence to the contrary.
Example: “I know I do a lot of things okay at work, but I still feel like I’m a failure.”
Labeling
You put a fixed, global label on yourself or others without considering that the evidence might more reasonably lead to a less extreme conclusion.
Examples: “I’m a loser”; “He’s no good.”
Magnification/minimization
When you evaluate yourself, another person, or a situation, you unreasonably magnify the negative and/or minimize the positive.
Example: “Getting a mediocre evaluation proves how inadequate I am. Getting high marks doesn’t mean I’m smart.”
Mental filter
Also called selective abstraction. You pay undue attention to one negative detail instead of seeing the whole picture.
Example: “Because I got one low rating on my evaluation [which also contained several high ratings], it means I’m doing a lousy job.”
Mind reading
You believe you know what others are thinking, failing to consider other, more likely possibilities.
Example: “He’s thinking that I don’t know the first thing about this project.”
Overgeneralization
You make a sweeping negative conclusion that goes far beyond the current situation.
Example: “Because I felt uncomfortable at the meeting, I don’t have what it takes to make friends.”
Personalization
You believe others are behaving negatively because of you, without considering more plausible explanations for their behavior.
Example: “The repairman was curt to me because I did something wrong.”
“Should” and “must” statements
Also called imperatives. You have a precise, fixed idea of how you or others should behave, and you overestimate how bad it is that these expectations are not met.
Example: “It’s terrible that I made a mistake. I should always do my best.”
Tunnel vision
You only see the negative aspects of a situation.
Example: “My son’s teacher can’t do anything right. He’s critical and insensitive and lousy at teaching.”