In this video I explore the CBT cognitive distortion known as catastrophising. I’ll explain what it is, what causes it and share several strategies to overcome it. Let look at an example, Max believes he will fail his accountancy exam even though he attended all lectures and studied hard. Max assumes. “I’ll fail my exam and I’ll never find a job”. We can also look at Joanne who had a small disagreement with her partner and concludes, “He is going to leave me and I’ll die alone”.

Both Joanne and Max are catastrophising. They are making castastrophic predictions about future events which are blown way out of proportion to reality. Since catastrophising involves thinking about terrible things that are unlikely to happen, over time it erodes your emotional wellbeing. There is actually a direct correlation between catastrophising and common mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

WORK WITH ME

If you'd like to work with me, or a member of the Lewis Psychology team, please click on the links below:

☐ Lewis Psychology CIC (for face to face therapy): https://www.lewispsy.org.uk
☐ Lewis Psychology Online (for online therapy): https://lewispsyonline.co.uk

CHAPTERS

0:00 What is catastrophising
1:17 Cause of catastrophising 1: Ambiguity
1:53 Cause of catastrophising 2: Fear
2:23 Cause of catastrophising 3: The Brain
3:09 Stop catastrophising step 1:Notice thoughts
4:10 Stop catastrophising step 2: Gain perspective
4:50 Stop catastrophising step 3: Selfsoothing

CBT BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

☐ The Clinician's Guid to CBT Using Mind Over Mood by Christine A. Padesky. Please click on the link to buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/409z8ko

☐ Mind Over Mood by Dennis Greenberger and Christine Padesky. Please click on the link to buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Hi7lp9

☐ Cognitive Behavioural Therapist Basics and Beyond by Judith Beck. Please click on the link to buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3RfTN2f

There are three main causes of catastrophising: ambiguity, fear and the brain’s negativity bias. What can you do about catastrophsiing? The first step is to notice your thoughts, you might notice words such as: never, terrible, fail useless, or rejected which can lead directly to catastophrising. For example, ‘If I admit I don’t know something at work, they will think I am useless and fire me’. Catching yourself using catastrophic language may take some practice. Remember thoughts are not facts. Just because you think it does mean it’s true.

Step two, maintain perspective. For example, when George walked into the staff room two colleagues stopped talking. George thought, ‘They’re talking about me’. To gain perspective and focus on the reality of the situation George asked himself a series of questions: What is the evidence my thought is true? Am I basing my thought on facts or feelings? Could I be misinterpreting the evidence? What assumptions am I making?

Step three, learn to soothe the body. For example, Ian is driving home with his two young children in the car and has the thought, ‘What if I have a car accident and my children die’. Although the thought is unrealistic his body responds as if the scenario is going to happen in real life. His heart starts to race, he feels sweaty, lightheaded and starts to tremble.The good new is that you can dampen the fight or flight response by practicing selfsoothing. Self soothing activities can vary for everyone as we are all soothed by different things. Self soothing actives include meditating, talking to a good friend, spending time in nature, exercising, listening to music, stroking a pet, the sensation of rocking and sipping a warm drink. Experiment and see what works for you.

ABOUT TERESA LEWIS

Teresa Lewis is the founder and Director of Lewis Psychology and a Senior Accredited psychotherapist with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP Snr. Accred). Qualified in 1995, Teresa has been providing counselling and psychotherapy treatment for nearly 30 years. Teresa holds a masters degree in counselling and psychotherapy and is a qualified EMDR Practitioner having completed training accredited with EMDR Europe. Teresa is also a qualified adult educator and an accredited Mindfulness teacher As a recognised expert in her field Teresa is frequently asked to conduct editorial reviews and endorse counselling and psychotherapy books for international publishing houses.

☐ Email Teresa at: [email protected]
☐ Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lewispsy...

GRAPHICS AND THUMBNAIL

Thumbnail and BRoll graphics by Teresa Lewis. BRoll video is used in strict compliance with the appropriate permissions and licenses required from Pexels.com in accordance with the YouTube Partner Program, Community guidelines and YouTube terms of service.

#LewisPsychology