Resource on DISPUTING irrational thought IDENTIFY YOUR BELIEFS CORE TYPES OF MUST BELIEFS See which of these are present and what your personal versions are. 1. “I must perform well and/or win the approval of important people or else I am an inadequate person.” This often leads you to feel anxious, depressed, and worthless and to avoid “risky” pursuits. 2. “You (other people) must treat me fairly and considerately and not unduly frustrate me or else you are a rotten individual!” This tends to create anger, rage, fury, feuds, wars and genocide. 3. “My life conditions must give me the things I want and have to keep me from harm or else life is unbearable and I can’t be happy at all.” This tends to produce low frustration tolerance, depression, procrastination, and addiction. When I experience the (A) and the (C) I believe and tell myself (keep in mind the 3 types above) [textarea,I tell myself,3,70] IDENTIFY the MEANINGS you give when triggered What does this adversity mean about YOU? [textarea,meaning about self,2,70] What does this adversity mean about your LIFE? [textarea,meaning about life,2,70] What does this adversity mean about OTHERS involved? [textarea,meaning about others,2,70] IF you INSTEAD thought rationally or self-helpingly about the above, HOW would you tend to FEEL and BEHAVE? [textarea,rational thinking impact,5,70] What KEY activties will help you do this? [checkbox,fully accept myself] FULLY Accept myself by resisting self-downing and rating behaviours instead. I COULD DO THIS BY... [textarea,accept myself by,2,70] [checkbox,resist self labelling] RESIST self labelling or rating I COULD DO THIS BY... [textarea,resist self downing by,2,70] TRY listing on two sheets of paper FIRST ON ONE the disadvantages of self-labelling and downing THEN ON THE OTHER the advantages of rating behaviour instead of person? [checkbox,avoid demands and musts] AVOID DEMANDS as in MUSTS SHOULDS OUGHTS that allow for no failure I COULD DO THIS BY... [textarea,avoidng demands by,2,70] [checkbox,avoid awfulising] REDUCE AWFULISING as in exaggerating the degree of badness of my situation by assigning an appropriate level of badness I COULD DO THIS BY... [textarea,reduce awfulising by,2,70] [checkbox,raise frustration level] RAISE FRUSTRATION LEVEL by recognising how truly urgent it is that I feel comfortable and solutions arrive quickly. I COULD DO THIS BY... [textarea,raise my frustration levels by,2,70] ================================================================ How REBT can really HELP you CHANGE The core tool of REBT in helping you change your outcomes, pivots on how successfully you challenge or dispute any irrational ideas, beliefs or values that you hold. The three key challenges to Irrational Thinking are: • Challenges that ask about what evidence supports and does not support your ideas or what you tell yourself, or the meanings you give it. • Challenges about the logic or truthfulness. These check out your IF ... THEN reasoning to see if you're jumping to conclusions. • Challenges to consider the practical outcomes of continuing to think such. These check out what the weigh up is when comparing benefits and costs, advantages and disadvantages, gains and losses (win-lose). DISPUTATION STRATEGIES or challenging for false ideas Empirical What evidences or experiences support or do not support my thoughts and ideas? 'Is this belief supported by the evidence?' The goal here is to help yourself see that your belief is inconsistent with reality, and that there is little or no empirical evidence to support it. This involves asking you to provide evidence in support of your irrational beliefs: "What evidence do you have for believing that ... must happen?" or "Where is the evidence for thinking that you need...?" "Are there any other possible explanations for this?" "Where is the proof that I/They/she/he is … … ?" Question List 1. Where is the evidence that you MUST…. ? 2. Is there ANY evidence that you must… ? 3. Where is the law of the universe which states you that you must…? 4. Is there a law of the universe which states that you must…? 5. If there were a law of the universe which stated that you must, how do you account for the fact that you didn't do without fail what that law dictated that you should do? Logical or Reasoned thinking 'Is this belief logical?' Here you help yourself to examine and question the logic of your belief; in other words, to understand why it does not logically follow from the facts. You can ask yourself questions such as: "Does it follow logically that because you would like ... to happen, that therefore it must happen?" or "How does it follow ... ?" or "Where is the logic that…. ?" Question List 1. Where is the logic from which you concluded that you must…? 2. Is it logical to believe that you must…? 3. Does it logically follow that because you want to … therefore you must…? 4. Does that MUST logically follow from your preference? 5. Is it good logic to believe that because you want … therefore you must ….? Pragmatic or Practical Outcomes 'Is this belief useful?' Pragmatic disputing focuses on the functionality or usefulness of a belief. The aim is to help you see how an irrational belief is dysfunctional for yourself, in that it leads to negative emotional and behavioural consequences Possible questions are: "What does telling yourself... do to you?" "What effect does this belief have on the way feel/behave?" "What are the consequences of believing that...?" Questions List 1. What gain will it get you to rigidly believe that you must … ? 2. What are the feelings and behaviour outcomes for you of demanding that you MUST …? 3. Will holding that demanding MUST give you good results? 4. Is it healthy for you to believe that you need to demand that you MUST …? 5. How is believing that you MUST … going to help you achieve your (long-term / healthy) goals? 6. Is believing that you must … going to help or hinder you in the pursuit of your (long-term/healthy) goals?