Beliefs and Emotions
We tend to believe that others make us feel as we do and that our emotions are an inevitable and rational response to the world around us. ("She ignored me and that made me depressed.") Cognitive therapists disagree strongly with this interpretation of events, arguing that our beliefs make us depressed/sad/angry/glad.
We generally believe:
Cognitive therapists propose that:
Make at least ten observations of situations where you experience a negative or uncomfortable emotion, using the following process:
- In addition to the events (activating events) which you assume make
you feel a particular way (consequences), also become aware of the beliefs
which may cause your bad feelings.
Record this process as soon as possible after the activating event. Your initial records may be brief, although you may want to make them more detailed later.
- Keep your records in columns: Activating Event, Belief, Consequence. Add a fourth column (Disputation), where you challenge your irrational belief and substitute a more rational belief for it.
- Evaluate this process. What did you learn? Was there any pattern to the kind of events which are upsetting to you? Are you more likely to engage in some irrational beliefs than others? Was it helpful for you?
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Last updated August 31, 1998
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