1. Recognizing Thinking Traps

2. Focus on Radars Why styles – how we explain life events Thinking traps – emotional holes we fall into Emotional icebergs – sometimes you can only see the tip

3. My Why Style Is: When I think about the ‘Why’ beliefs I come up with, my style of telling the story is probably more of a: __ MEOR__ NOT ME __ ALWAYSOR__ NOT ALWAYS __ EVERYTHINGOR__ NOT EVERYTHING

5. Thinking Traps Personalizing: The tendency to automatically attribute the cause of an event/adversity to one’s personal characteristics or actions. A “Me” person. ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME

6. Thinking Traps Externalizing: The tendency to automatically attribute the cause of an event/adversity to another person or to circumstances. A “Not Me”. YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOUYOUYOUYOUYOU

7. Thinking Traps Magnifying and Minimizing: Exaggerating the importance of certain aspects of a situation and underestimating the importance of other aspects. Like tunnel vision except that the magnifier and minimizer sees all of the picture, but distorts it. Not keeping things in proportion.

8. Thinking Traps Mind Reading: Expecting another person to know what you are thinking, or assuming that you know what another person is thinking. Practicing telepathy without a license.

9. Thinking Traps Jumping to Conclusions: Settling on a certain thought/belief when there is little evidence to support it.

10. Thinking Traps Tunnel Vision: Focusing in on certain aspects of a situation while screening out other salient aspects. Failing to see the “big picture”

11. Thinking Traps Overgeneralizing: Jumping on Thought/Belief about global qualities in oneself or others without the evidence to support it. Character assassination.

12. Thinking Traps Emotional Reasoning: Assuming that your emotions are accurate indicators of the nature of an event/adversity. (e.g., “I feel really depressed, so this problem must be uncontrollable”). Getting the Thought↔Reaction arrows backwards.

13. Avoid the traps by learning to recognize them before they trap you

18. Find Your Thinking Traps and Avoid Them!!!