Topic 6: Automatic Thoughts & Core Beliefs {by 3/13}
[Automatic Thoughts] – Watch MDD-12: Automatic Thoughts – Negative Automatic Thought Record. Answer the following: (1) How is the client’s response to the outcome (emotionally and cognitively) helpful to understanding his distress? (2) What would be effective Socratic techniques to modify his negative automatic thought?
[Core Beliefs] – (1) How do core beliefs develop? (2) What is it about core beliefs that can make them a challenge to modify in therapy? (3) What are the therapeutic gains that come from modifying core beliefs?
Your original post should be posted by the beginning of class 3/13. Have your two replies posted no later than 3/15. *Please remember to click the “reply” button when posting a reply. This makes it easier for the reader to follow the blog postings.
Dr. Adam M Volungis 
Mar 11, 2025 @ 11:16:04
Automatic Thoughts
Core Beliefs
Mar 12, 2025 @ 11:10:00
Hi Rachel!
This is a really insightful post! You’ve captured how automatic thoughts and core beliefs are closely tied to a client’s emotional experience and distress. I especially like how you highlighted the importance of Socratic questioning to uncover underlying beliefs and how challenging those can lead to lasting change. It’s so true that core beliefs, while hard to modify, significantly impact one’s outlook and can greatly improve mental well-being once addressed. Great reflections here!
Mar 16, 2025 @ 20:52:16
Hi Rachel,
I agree that Socratic questioning would be a strong method in modifying Mark’s negative thoughts. I feel like this technique could segway nicely into examining the evidence, as both the clinician and client would have fresh, accessible examples to go off. It seems that challenges are more effective after Socratic questioning has occurred. Well done!
Mar 12, 2025 @ 11:08:13
Using an Automatic Thought Record helps Mark (and other clients) identify their automatic thoughts. Writing these thoughts down as they occur helps clients recognize them more clearly, sometimes while feeling the emotions linked to them. This record helps both the client and counselor spot patterns in thoughts and their triggers. It shows how automatic thoughts impact emotions and actions. By identifying these patterns, the record helps Mark understand his distress and take action, instead of blaming himself and feeding negative thoughts.
Socratic questioning can help Mark become more aware of his automatic thoughts and their effects. Questions can clarify how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are connected. Linking core beliefs to automatic thoughts and exploring their truth helps Mark challenge these beliefs. Together, the counselor and client can evaluate the consequences of these thoughts and recognize that they may not be accurate, even though the emotions feel real.
Core beliefs are deeply held views about the world, others, and oneself. These beliefs form early in life, shaped by experiences, and guide how people see and react to situations, stress, and relationships. Core beliefs can change over time but usually remain consistent. They are like rules that govern a person’s interactions and perception of the world.
Since core beliefs are deeply ingrained, they are difficult to change. They shape thoughts, behaviors, and emotions, and are linked to automatic thoughts, which often go unnoticed. People may not be aware of their automatic thoughts or core beliefs, making it hard to challenge or change them. It takes focus in therapy to uncover these beliefs.
Once core beliefs are identified, therapy can lead to lasting progress. Identifying the automatic negative thoughts tied to these beliefs allows Mark to understand the cycle of thoughts, emotions, and actions, and modify them if needed.
Mar 14, 2025 @ 01:47:47
Hi Tea! I definitely agree that the automatic thought record is such a helpful tool for spotting patterns in thoughts and emotions. It’s interesting how just writing them down can make clients more aware of what’s really going on in their minds. Sometimes those negative automatic feel so automatic that they go unchecked, so this kind of structured reflection really helps break that cycle.
Mar 12, 2025 @ 12:13:54
In the video, the client is clearly distressed about the outcome of the discussed event and has strong negative feelings about it and himself. It is helpful to focus in on this event since it has an effect on the individual and may reveal more about their feelings and cognition around other outcomes. All the information from the client that is presented by distress is going to be useful and needs to be recognized by the therapist in order to help relieve the client and understand more about them.
By using Socratic questioning, the therapist can learn more about any underlying beliefs that the client holds and contributes to their negative automatic thoughts. The discussed event will have automatic thoughts involved which resulted in the client’s negative feelings and distress. By figuring out what those automatic thoughts were and what triggered them, it is going to contribute to the therapist’s treatment.
Core beliefs are usually created during childhood and adolescence through the observation of others and their environment. Their relationships with their environment, presented models, and their predisposition of genetics all play a role in how they build a perspective on how they view themselves and the world. These core beliefs are modified based on experience and major life events.
Core beliefs are difficult to restructure in therapy because of their continuous state in the person’ everyday life. The individual is going to hold onto these beliefs, even with contradictory information. They have strong interpretations of previous events that have been built on these beliefs, and it is hard to break the truth when believed in for so long.
The therapeutic gains of modifying core beliefs are the relief of distress it will have on the client. By lowering the frequency of negative automatic thoughts, they are modifying their core beliefs and reducing their future distress. The client is going to view the world and the people in it in a more adaptive way that is going to contribute to lower levels of psychological distress.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 10:08:30
Hey Hannah! I really enjoyed reading your discussion post this week! To begin, I really liked your reasoning as to why Mark’s take on this particular situation was insightful. You’re absolutely right that an individual’s take on an outcome can lead the clinician to understand their thoughts and emotions surrounding the outcome. I also agree with you that Socratic questioning can help the clinician in understanding exactly what the client is thinking and feeling in regard to a particular situation. I also really enjoyed reading your take on core beliefs. Core beliefs are developed at an early age like you said, which is why they can be so difficult to modify. Similarly, you addressed that core beliefs are utilized every day in one’s life, which is another reason why they are so hard to change. I believe that your suggestion of lowering negative automatic can be beneficial to a client because it can mitigate future distress. Overall, I thought your discussion post was very well said!!!!
Mar 12, 2025 @ 22:31:13
Automatic Thoughts
(1) Mark’s response to the outcome helps us understand his distress because his core belief that he is “unlikeable” is validated by his response to the distressing outcome because he isolated himself. A more helpful response to that would be to surround himself with his support system (like his girlfriend), to show himself evidence that goes against that belief.
(2) An effective Socratic technique to modify Mark’s negative automatic thought would be to test assumptions. For example, if I were treating Mark, I would tailor my questions to challenge his core belief of feeling unlikeable. For example, I would likely ask why he believes the reason Jeff said no is because he doesn’t like him. I would like to explore alternative explanations with him by asking for examples of other possibilities, examining evidence, and challenging absolute thinking. I would want to explore with Mark what the potential outcomes of challenging the belief would be, like calling Jeff to ask if they can reschedule. An important follow-up step would be to ask Mark if he is comfortable with testing the thought by assigning homework to call Jeff before the next session. This approach considers a more balanced and realistic possible outcome which in turn manages self-expectations and. reduces feelings of rejection.
Core Beliefs
(1) How do core beliefs develop? Core beliefs are typically developed during childhood and adolescence by observing other people and the environment around them. Children and adolescents learn not only by observing how other people behave, but also the way they react to stressful situations, and how they express emotions. For example, a child whose parents often fight in front of them might internalize the belief that all relationships are inherently that way and that expressing emotion leads to physical consequences. On the other hand, a child who has parents who serve as consistent and positive models of behavior and is exposed to healthy reactions to conflict will be likely to have a strong sense of self-worth and seek out healthy relationships.
(2) Core beliefs can be very difficult to modify in therapy because it is so deeply ingrained in an individual. Core beliefs make up who we are, so it can be hard to navigate challenging those beliefs outside of the therapeutic setting. It is important in any skill based activity (In this case, CBT skills) to practice in order to get better and have these skills feel more instinctual.
(3) A huge therapeutic gain that comes from modifying core beliefs is that it helps provide the client with relief from the distress they are experiencing. When a person experiences less automatic thoughts, they are able to modify their core beliefs over time. By modifying their core beliefs to be more positive, they will be less likely to experience negative reactions to stressful events in the future.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 10:03:25
Hi Krystal! I enjoyed reading your discussion post this week! I liked how you address that Mark’s negative automatic thought was validated through his experience at lunch. I also liked how you recommended an alternative approach in order to help Mark disprove said thought! I also enjoyed reading how you would approach Mark’s automatic thoughts through testing assumptions. I think questioning Mark’s belief that he is unlikeable would be an appropriate method in helping him to realize that he is operating under distorted automatic thoughts! I also really liked your take on core beliefs because you had substantiated your definition with an example of positive parental role models. I also thought your take on why core beliefs can be challenging to change was very interesting. You’re absolutely right that core beliefs are ingrained in one’s way of existing. Challenging those beliefs may even make the client feel uncomfortable at first due to the fact that they were operating under those conditions for an extended period of time. Lastly, I think your take on why modifying core beliefs can be beneficial to your client. Your discussion was very well said and thought out!!!
Mar 13, 2025 @ 12:14:37
Hi Krystal! I like how you mentioned that encouraging Mark to engage more with his support system could help challenge his feelings of loneliness and that he is unlikeable. This could help boost his self-esteem and in future instances when his friend cannot spend time with him he can reflect on instances in which people have been there for him instead of all the times he has been rejected. I also like your suggestion of testing the assumption with his friend. Mark seems to have assumed that the reason he didn’t want to grab lunch with him because he didn’t like him, rather than considering that perhaps he was too busy. Testing this assumption could help him challenge his negative beliefs about himself.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 14:03:57
I like your description of the Socratic Questioning as “testing assumptions” because it highlights the involvement of the client. The whole point of this is getting the client to identify in themselves what thoughts are irrational. Thus, it takes active effort on the part of the clients to identify and accept these thoughts.
Mar 16, 2025 @ 20:59:35
Hey Krystal,
You make a great case for testing assumptions within Mark’s negative automatic thoughts. As we have seen in each video with Mark, he has a tendency to fill in gaps with significant assumptions that target his self-worth. I think that homework involving contacting Jeff to reschedule would be beneficial, as it may create an opportunity for the co-worker to explain why lunch was not initially possible. This would (probably) negate Mark’s assumptions and be an informative step in modifying his negative thoughts. Great job!
Mar 17, 2025 @ 14:15:28
Hi Krystal,
This post offers a thoughtful exploration of how automatic thoughts and core beliefs impact mental health, and how techniques like Socratic questioning can be used to challenge negative beliefs. I especially appreciate the emphasis on using support systems to counteract feelings of isolation and validating the potential for growth by testing assumptions. It’s also insightful how it highlights the deep-rooted nature of core beliefs and how modifying them, though challenging, can lead to long-term relief and healthier reactions to stress. This approach not only targets immediate distress but also fosters a sense of empowerment and resilience in the individual.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 09:53:24
The client’s response to the outcome helps to understand his distress because we were able to gain insight into his perspective on how he interprets a particular outcome. In this example, Mark had previously believed that Jeff did not want to spend time with him. After Jeff had declined Mark’s invitation to lunch, this previous belief was then substantiated through “evidence”. Mark had taken an instance where Jeff was unavailable, to prove his previous cognitive distortion that Jeff did not want to spend time with him. Mark’s response to the outcome gives us insight into how his automatic thoughts are causing him to feel isolated and alone, even hurt. Rather than considering various factors as to why Jeff was unavailable for lunch, Mark had automatically evaluated the situation in a personal sense and used it to confirm his negative automatic thoughts. An effective Socratic technique to modify Mark’s negative automatic thoughts would be the utilization of the Testing Your Thoughts Worksheet. This particular worksheet allows for the client to review a given situation through Socratic questioning, a method of questioning that allows for the client to critically think about a given scenario. Some particular questions that may be helpful to Mark are “What’s another way to look at this?” or “What could happen if I changed my thinking?” In Mark’s case, he seems to respond well to worksheets in general, and sitting down with him in session to review a given scenario may allow him to gain further insight into his negative automatic thoughts. Mark may be able to explore alternative reasons as to why Jeff was unavailable that particular afternoon which may lead to Mark realizing that his negative automatic thoughts were not true.
Core beliefs relate to an individual’s perception of themselves, others, and the world around them. An individual organizes their core beliefs into their schemas: a cognitive structure within the mind that organizes new information. From an early age, an individual is developing core beliefs that are influenced by their genealogy, experiences, and significance of said experiences. If a situation arises that is similar to one experienced in the past, the schema that holds that core belief is then activated. When a schema is activated, Judith Beck states that three things occur: the client interprets a new experience that aligns with a core belief, the activation of a schema strengthens that core belief, and then other kinds of schemas are activated as well (Beck, 2021). Core beliefs can be challenging to modify in therapy due to whether or not they are maladaptive in nature or not. When a core belief is maladaptive in nature, they tend to be negative and rigid. When said core beliefs are negative and rigid, an individual is perceiving situations in order to uphold their negative core beliefs that are mediated by maladaptive information processing. In other words, the individual is skewing information in order to align a situation with a previous occurrence. At times, the client is unaware that they are skewing information which is why it can be challenging to change or even address. Modifying core beliefs can be beneficial because you are able to educate your client on their core beliefs, monitor their schema activation, explain the contribution the client is making to their core beliefs, and motivate them to change. At an intellectual level, it is easy for a clinician to allow their client to modify their core beliefs. The challenge is allowing for your client to change at an emotional level as well. It is possible through imagery, role play, metaphors, or behavioral experiments.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 12:08:50
Hi Nicole! I like your idea of utilizing the testing your thoughts worksheet with Mark because I agree that this would likely be beneficial for him. He seem to respond well to having his thoughts challenged by a therapist so this would allow him to have more autonomy in this and allow him to practice this skill outside of session. It would appear that Mark has some negative core beliefs associated with feeling unlikeable so it is important to identify these so that they can be modified. As you identified, people often skew information in order to align it with their schemas and core beliefs so it will be necessary to challenge Mark when he falls into these habits.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 17:30:30
Hello Nicole, I really like how applicable you made to Mark the concepts of Automatic thoughts and Core beliefs. I also really liked that you distinguished between the concepts of Schemas and Core beliefs.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 12:02:38
Automatic Thoughts
Understanding the client’s emotional and cognitive responses to the event’s outcome can help understand their distress because people can react differently to the same event. Even outcomes that seem positive may elicit a negative response from a client so it is important to be mindful of this. Mark tends to have lots of feelings of loneliness and that he is not likable in response to social events. This often makes him feel hurt and sad. Without knowing why he feels sad, someone could assume that in this instance he was sad because he had to each lunch alone when it was because he felt like his friend did not like him. Making an incorrect assumption can guide treatment in a way that is completely unhelpful and leaves Mark feeling misunderstood.
To help modify his negative automatic thoughts, it could be helpful to use the Socratic technique of exploring possible alternative explanations. Mark’s automatic thoughts seem to have a theme that he is not likeable because people do not want to spend time with him. Using this technique could help Mark see that perhaps his friend is busy and has other plans so that is why they do not agree to join him for lunch, instead of believing they do not actually like him which is less believable. By exploring all possible alternatives Mark would be able to rationalize and choose which is most likely to be true.
Core Beliefs
Core beliefs develop early in life based on interactions with significant and influential individuals and life events. Genetics and biological vulnerability can also play a role as well. Positive and negative experiences get reinforced over time and become a part of the individual’s identity. Negative core beliefs can cause significant distress and lead to negative automatic thoughts. However, negative experiences do not have to be significantly distressing if the individual has coping skills to help counteract this distress.
Core beliefs are challenging to modify in therapy because they are formed so early in life and therefore become deeply ingrained in the individual’s self-concept and identity and are often heavily associated with strong emotions. By nature, core beliefs are also very rigid because they have been reinforced for years by numerous experiences. Individuals may have difficulty identifying them on their own without professional help which makes therapy their first exposure to them.
Modifying core beliefs can have many therapeutic benefits. It can help increase a client’s self-esteem, confidence, and motivation to change. When these increase, the client’s overall mental well-being is likely to improve. It can also make challenging automatic thoughts easier which can reduce the amount of distress an individual faces on a daily basis. This can have long-term benefits and help to create long-lasting improvements in functioning.
Mar 14, 2025 @ 01:51:40
Hi Courtney! I liked how you pointed out that people can react differently to the same event, and that even something neutral like eating lunch alone can feel really painful and difficult depending on how someone interprets it. I know people who love to go out alone and do their own thing and others not so much.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 12:33:49
Having a record of the clients responses to the outcome is helpful to understand his distress as it can help pinpoint the moment the distress started and identity the precipitating factors. The cognition and emotions recorded can also provide insight into what they were thinking and what they felt to help the therapist decide how to tackle those thoughts. Using Socratic techniques could help Mark explore his negative automatic thoughts some more and become more aware of them. This also helps see the themes that are developed as well as how his thought have affected his behavior. By becoming aware of his thoughts and the outcomes from those thoughts, Mark can become more aware of the irrationality of some of his negative automatic thoughts.
Core beliefs typically develop during childhood through interactions with significant individuals in the child’s life as well as significant events. Core beliefs can also develop due to genetic or biological vulnerabilities such as temperament or skills/lack of skills. These experiences develop and are reinforced and influence the way the individual perceives the world. Core beliefs are extremely biased and tend to only pick up information that confirms the negative core belief. They can also be self perpetuating due to how they influence our patterns of thinking. Modifying negative core beliefs is helpful as it can change the perspective that a client has on a situation they perceive. This can decrease the frequency of negative automatic thoughts as well as decrease the amount of distress the client experiences. Because core beliefs are much broader than automatic thoughts, positive modifications can also be longer lasting.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 13:59:46
I like your connection to rational/irrational thoughts with the Socratic Questioning. Even though we are not doing REBT, the rational versus irrational differentiation of thought is a useful one to have while examining core beliefs and automatic thoughts from a CBT lens. Core belief and automatic thoughts are, after all, generally irrational.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 13:56:59
Mar 13, 2025 @ 13:58:22
The client’s response to the outcome, both emotionally and cognitively, is helpful when trying to understand his distress because it can help identify what is distressing him. People have different responses to events for different reasons. Two people might experience the same event and it may not be distressing to one like it is to the other. If both people are distressed by the event, they might be distressed for different reasons. Identifying how the client responded to the outcome, might indicate what was distressing about the event. If you don’t identify what about the event is distressing to the client, you may put focus and emphasis on changing the wrong behavior or thought. This may make the client feel misunderstood if treatment is focused on a part of the event that they don’t consider to be a stressor. Figuring out what is distressing about certain outcomes can help identify how we can approach the situation to create better outcomes or a better response to certain outcomes.
Effective socratic techniques to modify his negative automatic thoughts could include socratic questioning to help the client identify and challenge irrational thoughts. Mark’s thoughts tend to be very negative towards himself. He often thinks he’s unlikeable and feels that other people must think that way too. Even though logically a friend saying no to going to lunch does not mean they do not like Mark, he may take it that way. By questioning Mark’s thoughts and understanding how his thoughts affect his emotions, they can better understand and identify automatic thoughts and help Mark challenge these thoughts when they appear.
Core beliefs are an individual’s idea about themselves, others, and their environment that shapes and impacts how they approach everything around them. Core beliefs start in childhood and are built throughout life based on experiences and interaction with others. Both positive and negative experiences can contribute to the development of core beliefs.
Core beliefs are difficult to modify in therapy because they are deeply ingrained in our brain. These are ideas that people have often held onto for years, using them daily to navigate life. Their identity and how they interact with the world has been based on these ideas. Core beliefs also contribute to automatic thoughts that then reinforce the core beliefs. It can be difficult to identify core beliefs in order to modify them. Even after identifying them, they are a thought pattern that can be difficult to break and it takes consistent effort. It can often take months of consistent effort to chip away and change core beliefs.
Despite the effort it can take to modify core beliefs, it can be very beneficial in therapy to change these. Some core beliefs are negative and cause distress to an individual negatively impacting other aspects of functioning. Mark is an example of someone who probably has a negative core belief regarding their self-worth since he often feels like people do not like him. This can affect how he feels about himself and how he approaches people. Modifying core beliefs would help Mark have a healthier relationship with himself and others. Modifying core beliefs can help decrease distress, increase motivation and confidence in their ability to change, and impact how the client will approach the world and stressors in a more adaptive way.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 14:32:49
Using an Automatic Thought Record is incredibly valuable in helping clients recognize and understand their negative automatic thoughts. By writing down these thoughts as they occur, clients gain insight into how their interpretations of situations contribute to their emotional distress. This process helps uncover patterns in thinking and highlights the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In Mark’s case, his response to Jeff declining lunch gives us a clearer understanding of his distress because it reveals how he interprets events through the lens of his pre-existing belief that Jeff does not want to spend time with him. Rather than considering alternative explanations, Mark automatically took Jeff’s unavailability as evidence to confirm his negative thought, which intensified his feelings of isolation and rejection. This shows how automatic thoughts shape emotional experiences and underscores the importance of identifying and challenging these patterns in therapy.
Socratic questioning is a highly effective tool in modifying negative automatic thoughts because it encourages clients to critically examine their thinking. Instead of simply accepting thoughts as fact, clients are guided to explore other possibilities and perspectives. In Mark’s case, using the Testing Your Thoughts Worksheet would allow him to assess the validity of his belief by asking questions like “What’s another way to look at this?” or “What could happen if I changed my thinking?” Since Mark responds well to worksheets, reviewing his thought patterns in session could help him recognize alternative explanations for Jeff’s unavailability and, ultimately, challenge the accuracy of his negative assumptions. By restructuring these thoughts, Mark can begin to develop a more balanced and realistic perspective, which reduces emotional distress and promotes healthier thinking habits.
Core beliefs are deeply ingrained ideas about oneself, others, and the world, and they begin developing early in life through experiences, relationships, and societal influences. These beliefs are stored within cognitive structures known as schemas, which shape how individuals interpret new information. When a situation arises that aligns with an existing core belief, that belief is reinforced, making it even harder to change. Modifying core beliefs is crucial because it leads to long-term therapeutic progress and emotional well-being. Therapy helps clients identify and monitor their schemas, recognize how these beliefs contribute to their distress, and develop the motivation to challenge and reshape them. While intellectual understanding is important, true change happens on an emotional level, which is why interventions like imagery, role playing, metaphors, and behavioral experiments are so effective. By restructuring maladaptive core beliefs, clients can develop healthier self perceptions, regulate their emotions more effectively, and engage in behaviors that align with their goals and values. This ultimately leads to a more balanced and fulfilling life, proving that core belief modification is not just beneficial but essential in therapy.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 17:31:50
Hello Jalen, Nice work on explaining some of the typical Socratic Techniques in Questioning. I also really enjoyed reading your summary of the benefits of modifying negative core beliefs.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 14:39:36
The client’s response to the outcome is helpful in better understanding his distress because each individual will respond differently to certain situations. In this case, both the client and therapist are able to track and monitor his feelings and thoughts to better understand the possible cause of distress. Since the client tends to have very negative ideas and automatic thoughts that arise, tracking his response can be helpful in identifying potential negative patterns of their thoughts or behaviors. Individuals may experience the same outcome in very different ways and as for this client he tends to view almost all situations with a negative response or thought. Understanding his negative response to specific experiences can help a therapist better understand the potential reasoning behind his distress. In order to modify his negative automatic thoughts, Socratic techniques would be most beneficial in this particular scenario. The therapist could challenge any assumptions the client has to better understand his deep rooted beliefs and values. Considering the client makes assumptions without any evidence, challenging the reliability and validity of these thoughts would be very helpful. Negative automatic thoughts can have little to no evidence behind them and should be challenged to help the client understand the occurrence of such thoughts.
Core beliefs develop through a person’s own experiences, social interactions, and the environment around them. These beliefs are formed during the early stages of life and continue to occur throughout development. Core beliefs can help guide an individual’s behaviors or reactions to a particular experience. How one views a situation may impact their responses in return. Core beliefs can be challenging to modify in therapy because of how deeply rooted they are. For many individuals these beliefs are often unconscious and formed at a very young age. It becomes difficult to change these thoughts when they are not aware of them to begin with. Since the beliefs are learned so early in life they become rooted in the individual making it more challenging to modify. When it comes to modifying these beliefs it can allow the individual to foster more adaptive thinking if such values create negative thinking. It is important to address the individual negative automatic thoughts causing them distress in order to change the core belief. Clients can learn to adapt more positive core beliefs that help in improving their emotional and psychological well-being.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 15:49:26
Automatic Thoughts
A client’s response to an outcome is helpful in understanding their distress because there is always going to be variations in how people will respond to the same event. Even an event that seems to be positive to others may not be viewed the same way by another, so understanding the client’s thoughts and emotions is crucial in identifying what may have been specifically distressing and the reasons why so that distress can be better addressed in therapy in an individualized manner. Even if the client doesn’t know how to verbalize how they felt or what they were thinking, discussing what the client does know about their responses can lead to more insight and direction of what else may need to be worked on in therapy.
An effective Socratic technique that may help to modify Mark’s negative automatic thought is to ask open questions that challenge the nature of his negative automatic thoughts. For example, I would ask him why his friend thinks he is unlikeable, and what the “evidence” of this is. I may even ask about what other evidence there is outside this event that makes Mark think his friend doesn’t like him. However, I would also ask him about the evidence against this as well so that he can begin to rationalize the facts of the situations rather than jump to interpretations and assumptions. Similarly, I may also ask Mark what he would say to someone else who was saying the exact same thing as he is, and ask him about how different his response to someone else is compared to his response to himself, since we are typically much kinder and more rational with others than ourselves.
Core Beliefs
Core beliefs can be described as statements that are comprised of fundamental beliefs about themselves, others, and the world around them, and these beliefs act as the blueprint from which automatic thoughts may develop. Core beliefs often develop in childhood or adolescence and can be influenced by different vulnerability factors such as genetics, past interactions with others, and meaning that is assigned to their experiences. These factors reinforce these beliefs about ourselves until they become deeply ingrained in our self-concept, then they are categorized into various cognitive schemas and act as a framework for processing information.
Core beliefs can be challenging to modify in therapy because they are deeply ingrained and have been reinforced over a long period of time through various life experiences. They can also be difficult to identify because they do not present themselves the same way that automatic thoughts do, however, monitoring automatic thoughts can help to identify a pattern related to the overall core belief it stems from. Core beliefs are also held more strongly than automatic thoughts, making it more difficult to see the falsehood of negative beliefs. However, modifying core beliefs can help increase self-esteem, self-worth, and decrease overall distress. Since our automatic thoughts stem from the core beliefs we have about ourselves, modifying our core beliefs to be less negative will result in a decrease in negative automatic thoughts. This allows individuals to see themselves, others, and the world in a more balanced and objective way which can lead to more adaptive functioning in all life areas.
Mar 15, 2025 @ 14:15:34
Hi Eleni,
I like the emphasis on how monitoring thoughts and emotions can provide more clarity about the perspective of the client. Even if they are unable to fully verbalize it, it can help provide more direction than leaving the therapist to guess what the client may have felt in the moment. This also reduces the frequency the therapist has to make assumptions which can make the client feel more understood
Mar 15, 2025 @ 22:43:31
Hey Eleni!
You did a fantastic job at explaining core beliefs and the difficulties that arise when trying to modify them. I like how you included the difference between core beliefs and automatic thoughts and how they each present differently from one another. It is important to understand the challenges that arise when trying to change or modify certain core beliefs because they are so engrained and learned from such an early age. Fantastic job Eleni!
Mar 13, 2025 @ 17:28:37
Firstly, it is important because that IS the Reflection, the deeper-digging, the process during which a bigger self-awareness is gained on how particular thought patterns affect mood and emotions, and then behaviors. That is the process in which a client understand’s himself and their patterns of functioning. They learn what particular situations are the most triggering, and what thoughts get activated, and then the following dominos after that. So they Identify what is causing them distress and how.
Secondly, it is important to understand the response to make sure they don’t get stuck in self-critical patterns for having such thoughts, of feel discouraged/hopeless for the patterns in which they engage in. There is a component of processing the sad/strong/scary emotions after becoming aware of ones own patterns of thinking, feeling and doing. There’s that need to be embraced in that vulnerability, but also evaluate the thoughts (of the record) for their truthness, but also the thoughts that come up when becoming self-aware.
Thirdly, it is important because the response to the outcome of thoughts record can be beneficial therapeutically, for empowerment and deeper understanding of the underlying core beliefs that affect one’s thinking, for motivating more behavioral activation (positive momentum & hopefulness), and/or modifying something in the therapeutic context if specific things are not going well and need some adjusting.
2. Socratic techniques such as Socratic Questioning, will help not tell directly the client the truth, or what to think, but show/embody helpful questions they can ask themselves to come to the truth themselves. For example we could use the questions meant to examine the evidence for some of the automatic thoughts, decatastrophize perceived negative outcomes, ask about other possible explanations (hopefully more balanced / neutral) for a particular situation, and separate the sense of self from the negative thoughts. For example, we could ask Mark what would be some other possible reasons Jeff was not able to meet him for lunch, something that is nto related to a negative view of himself.
3. Core beliefs are the all-or-nothing statements that are rigid, global, and overgeneralized views about the self, others, and the world, and how the world functions. Common Core beliefs are Helplessness, Worthlessness, and Unlovability.
They develop usually during growth from childhood to adolescence depending on how one’s needs were answered in their family context or other environments, even though they still could be shaped by later life events.
4. They can be challenging to modify because some of them at the time they were formed, had some truthfulness to them in their environment. A kid who grew up in a violent household, experienced trauma or abuse, has reasons to believe the world is not a safe place and people are not to be trusted. And holding those views as a kid maybe helped them shape their behavior in a way that kept them out of harms way. However, the challenge is re-adjusting those beliefs in later life situations when they no longer apply, or even worse, become a self-fullfilling prophecy.
People may be used to looking at the word and self through those lenses. Some parts of them may be valid even though not completely/entirely. All of these factors make core beliefs hard to challenge and modify. On top of it, people carrying those beliefs, are biased, and prone to look at the information in the environment the proves/ validates their negative core beliefs, and don’t pay attention to other information that challenges them.
5. Modifying negative core beliefs to more adaptive and positive ones, can help someone have more positive experiences, notice and enjoy them, and be able to handle/manage challenging situations in adaptive manners. Carrying more adaptive and positive core beliefs helps one cope better with situations and life in general. It will reduce their experienced distress, but also resist future stressors in a stronger way, while providing effective solutions or engaging in acceptance when there is no control over situation.
Mar 13, 2025 @ 20:14:31
Automatic thoughts
The client’s response to the outcome presented in the MDD-12 recording is helpful as it provides more insight on the connection between his negative emotions and thinking and how these have impacted his response. This information can help with understanding why past behaviors occurred and thus when cognitive distortions are most effecting the client. In the case of Mark for example, he was able to identify both the emotions and immediate thoughts he had when his offer to get lunch with his colleague was turned down. In response to this, Mark isolated himself and got lunch at a different place from what he previously was going to get. Marks verbalization of the event and his emotions and cognitions that he identified show that he tends to internalize negative outcomes instead of considering potential external causes. An effective Socratic technique that can be used to modify his negative automatic thoughts would be to explore the possibility of alternate explanations for why his colleague turned down the lunch offer. Asking a question such as ‘Is there a chance that he may have been busy with work and that is why he could not attend’ or even ‘Is there another possible explanation for why he could not go for lunch’.
Core Beliefs
Core beliefs develop in individuals oftentimes by early life events. Contributing factors to the development of these beliefs are interactions with important and influential individuals, significant life events, as well as genetics and biological vulnerabilities. These events shape an individual’s core beliefs and are often rigid, black and white thinking that an individual holds of themself and sometimes others. Depending on the experiences an individual had greatly shape their core beliefs and therefore impact how they approach different environments and situations. Core beliefs can be challenging to modify, especially negative core beliefs, due to the reinforcement of automatic thoughts. When an automatic thought occurs after an event, oftentimes an individual will see this as proof that their core belief is valid, even if it is not. In addition, core beliefs have often been held and believed for a long duration of time due to when they developed. This in turn can make it difficult to change the core belief as it has been believed as true or valid for so long that it can be hard to consider this thinking pattern as invalid, even when there is proof of it being so. The therapeutic gain that can come from modifying core beliefs is that the modification can help in reducing current and potential future stressors. Modifying a core belief can provide an individual the opportunity to face stressors in a more adaptive and healthier way, as well as increase their confidence in themself and their ability to face current and potential future stressors.
Mar 14, 2025 @ 12:57:40
Hi Brooke!
I liked how you mentioned that it is challenging to modify negative core beliefs due to the negative automatic thoughts attached to them. As therapists, we must address these automatic thoughts before diving into core beliefs, to make the process easier for everyone! Good job!
Mar 15, 2025 @ 14:31:37
Hi Brooke,
I liked how you mentioned that modifying negative core beliefs can lead to reducing stressors with more adaptive behaviors. This can create a lasting change as negative core beliefs often arise when an individual is unable to deal with their current stressors. By teaching them more adaptive behaviors, they are able to reduce stressors as well as avoid the activation of negative core beliefs
Mar 16, 2025 @ 01:26:46
Hi Brooke,
Your explanation of core beliefs was really easy to follow and was broken down so well! Life experiences really do have such a huge impact on our core beliefs, especially during childhood when we are even less aware of them and have less conscious control of how we internalize our experiences. It’s so easy to have these beliefs be reinforced, and even thought that makes them tricky to modify, the benefits of doing so are completely worth it!
Mar 14, 2025 @ 01:43:00
The client’s emotional and cognitive response to the outcome helps uncover the depth of their distress by revealing patterns in their negative automatic thoughts. The way the client interprets a situation shows how distorted thinking patterns maintain distress. Identifying these responses is crucial in understanding the intensity and persistence of their emotional struggles. For the client, the triggering event was when the client asked their friend to lunch and the friend said no. The cognitive reaction was when the client immediately interpreted their friend’s response as a personal rejection. The emotional reaction was when the client felt sad, lonely, and guilty. The behavioral response was when the client went to McDonald’s instead of the sub shop he initially wanted to go to, sat alone in the park, and ruminated on his thoughts. Although the client still ate lunch, they felt isolated, rejected, and continued to overthink the event, reinforcing his core belief of being “unlikeable”. The client’s situation is helpful for understanding their distress because it shows how negative automatic thoughts lead to strong emotional responses and behaviors that reinforce distress and core beliefs. The client did not just feel bad in the moment, he continued to ruminate and validate his core belief by isolating himself.
Some socratic techniques that should be used to modify the client’s negative automatic thought would be examining the evidence, considering alternative explanations, decatastrophizing, perspective-taking, and behavioral experiments. Examining the evidence and considering alternative explanations for this client would look like asking the client questions such as what evidence do you have that your friend doesn’t want to spend time with you? Have you spend time with your friend before? Could there be another reason why your friend said no that doesn’t involve you? This helps the client realize that one event does not define a relationship and that their friend’s refusal could be due to other factors such as being busy or not in the mood. This helps the client move away from personalization and see that not everything is about them. Decatastrophizing with this client would look like asking the client if their friend didn’t want to spend time with them, what’s the worst that could happen? Would that mean their unlikable or their friend has different social preferences? This reduces the emotional intensity of the thought by showing that even in the worst-case scenario, the outcome isn’t as catastrophic as it seems. Perspective-taking with this client would be asking if a friend told you they invited someone to lunch and got turned down, what would you say to them? Would you tell them that means they’re unlikable? This encourages self-compassion and helps the client realize they are being harder on themselves than they would be on a friend. Finally, behavioral experiment with this client would look like asking the client to ask the same friend again next week or ask someone else to lunch. This encourages the client to test their assumptions in real like to see if their automatic thought is accurate.
Core beliefs form early in life through experiences with caregivers, cultural influences, peer interactions, and significant life events. They develop as a way to understand oneself, others, and the world. Positive experiences foster adaptive core beliefs while negative or traumatic experiences lead to maladaptive ones. These beliefs become deeply ingrained through repeated reinforcement over time.
Core beliefs are deeply embedded and often function as unconscious “truths” shaping perception and interpretation of experiences. Client may selectively filter information to confirm these beliefs while dismissing contradictory evidence aka confirmation bias. These beliefs have been reinforced over time, making them feel like absolute truths rather than perspectives. Changing them requires consistent effort, cognitive restructuring, and emotional processing.
Modifying core beliefs leads to reduced distress, increased self-esteem, improved relationships, and greater cognitive flexibility. It allows individuals to interpret experiences in a healthier and more balanced way which reduces negative automatic thoughts and maladaptive behaviors. This shift fosters resilience, emotional regulation, and an overall improved quality of life.
Mar 14, 2025 @ 12:14:33
Hi Emily!
I really like how you included multiple different techniques that can be used to help Mark modify his negative automatic thoughts. I agree that decatastrophizing would benefit Mark as he tends to take things personally, which end up ruining his whole day. If Mark can be taught how to not blow things out of proportion when they happen, he will likely experience relief from some of his symptoms. Good job!
Mar 15, 2025 @ 22:29:35
Hi Emily
You did a great job at explaining how the clients negative automatic thoughts were causing him distress based on the outcome. I like how you incorporated the cognitive reactions and behavioral responses to the triggering event experienced by the client. It was easy to understand how the clients thoughts about a specific situation were affecting his reactions as well as feelings. Great job Emily!
Mar 16, 2025 @ 01:17:42
Hi Emily,
I love the examples you gave for socratic techniques! These would definitely all be helpful to Mark, especially as he is learning to challenge his negative automatic thoughts. These seem like a great starting point to be able to combat these thoughts down the line!