Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Archived)

NOTE: Two improved versions of this resource are available here: Cognitive Distortions – Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Common) and Cognitive Distortions – Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Extended). Older versions of a resource may be archived in the event that they are available in multiple languages, or where data indicates that the resource continues to be frequently used by clinicians.

Human thinking is subject to a number of characteristic biases. In the 1960s, Aaron Beck identified several of these biases which were common in his depressed patients and labeled them ‘cognitive distortions’. An early student of Beck, David Burns, later expanded Beck’s original list of cognitive distortions but instead used the term unhelpful thinking styles to describe them.

This information handout is intended as a useful prompt to facilitate cognitive restructuring—the process of helping individuals overcome their biases and think in a ‘balanced’ way—which is a key component of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The term ‘Unhelpful Thinking Styles’ sounds less pejorative than ‘Cognitive Distortions’ or ‘Thinking Errors’ and may help your clients approach cognitive restructuring in a more friendly and accessible way.

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Related resources

Cognitive Distortions – Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Extended)

Cognitive Distortions – Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Common)

Prompts For Challenging Your Negative Thinking

Introduction & Theoretical Background

Our minds are always interpreting the world around us, trying to make sense of events. Sometimes we see the world accurately – as it really is – but often our minds take ‘short cuts’ and our thinking can become biased. These biases or ‘cognitive distortions’ can have powerful effects upon how we feel. Aaron Beck first identified distorted thinking in people suffering from depression in the 1960’s. It formed a central part of his cognitive theory of depression, and later, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

“[The depressed patient] tends to perceive his present, future, and the outside world (the cognitive triad) in a negative way and consequently shows a biased interpretation of his experiences, negative expectancies as to the probable success of anything he undertakes, and a massive amount of self-criticism”. Beck (1963)

Distorted thinking has been found to be associated with all types of mental health problems: from depression and anxiety to

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Therapist Guidance

Sometimes the thoughts we have don’t paint a fair picture of what has happened to us. For example, you might make a mistake one time and overgeneralize by thinking to yourself “I never get things right!”. This isn’t fair because it’s an exaggeration – it is likely that there are lots of times when you do things successfully. Or your partner might be late home from work and you jump to the conclusion – without any evidence – “they’ve been hurt in a car crash”. We call these thinking habits ‘unhelpful thinking styles’ because they can cause us suffering. This page describes the most common unhelpful thinking styles that are experienced by everyone at some point. I wonder, do you recognize yourself in any of these biases?

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References And Further Reading

Beck, A. T. (1963). Thinking and depression: I. Idiosyncratic content and cognitive distortions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 9(4), 324-333.
Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. Oxford: International Universities Press.
Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. New York: Guilford press.
Burns, D. (1980). Feeling good: the new mood therapy. New York: Morrow.
Clark, D.A. and Beck, A.T. (2010). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: Science and practice. Guilford Press

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Unhelpful Thinking Styles (Archived)