When CBT Meets Catastrophizing: My Own Experience

In my own therapeutic experience, as I began to explore my own thought processes and beliefs, CBT was utilized to help me better identify specific thoughts and challenge them. I found that I tend to catastrophize situations. I expect the worst-case scenario and often tie this with mind reading- I assume that I know what others are thinking and I assume it's bad. “If people are in a closed room, then they must be meaning about me and it must be bad.” Using CBT, I did not explore the “why” behind these thought processes or how they developed, but it gave me a guided process to challenge my thoughts.

As I worked through this process, I was first asked to identify a negative thought I was having. Then I was asked to identify the emotion connected with that thinking, which was typically something like stressed, scared, or frustrated. From here I was asked to identify how I knew that my thought was true. What facts did I have that the worst-case scenario would happen? Next, I was asked to identify facts against my thoughts. Sometimes I'd be asked to determine what the worst thing that could happen might be and what to do with that. Finally, I could identify a more balanced thought, which helped me let a lot of things go. Allowing my brain to explore other ways of thinking also allowed me to realize that even if the worst happened, I would be OK. This is the process I now walk clients through — not from a textbook, but from having sat in that chair.