Hrm - I am looking forward to this module... reading your initial post "all or nothing thinking" and "Mind reading" are things I am guilty of... I refer to them as "either a thing is, or it isn't" and a "black box model" (meaning it's like a black box - something common in Electronics... you have no idea what's in them, but you know that if you put X in, given the right circumstances, you get Y out - most of the time..) I have models like this for people.. so I know (or rather, THINK I know) what people will say or respond to my questions/stimulus. It drives people nuts, but I for the life of me, cannot remember NOT having them.
I have to say - it's comforting to know that I'm not the only one out there who does that, and has these sorts of perceptions on the world. I've never met anyone else who 'mind reads' or has the 'all or nothing' mindset - and it gives me hope that if symptoms like that are identifiable then chances are there's something to this whole CBT, and that maybe, just maybe, I can find some of the help I need here.
Thanks for relating that Arizona - I appreciate it.
Hmmmmmm all of them??? Ha ha. Ok that's a bad idea. I think I am going to focus on my thought records and identify which of the cognitive distortions appear the most and go from there.
It's hard seeing how my world view was shaped by such twisted logic.
So I just finished the CBT section on cognitive distortions. I am shocked, it was like a play-by-play of all my bad boy behavior.
Seriously, I've been told that I'm guilty of many of these distortions by previous girlfriends. I'm especially guilty of all-or-none thinking and mind reading. Those are the ones I do the most but honestly I think I am guilty of most of them.
This is so cool. If I hadn't discovered this resource I'd wouldn't have the chance I now have to change my behavior and continue to become the person I need to be.