Many people tell us they are caught in a cycle of negative thinking, dwelling on past mistakes or worrying about the future. They are unable to break the cycle, leaving them feeling upset, anxious, overwhelmed and powerless. 

Undoubtedly, our negative thoughts can have a powerful effect on us – affecting the way we feel and act. While you can’t control your thinking, you can learn ways to manage your negative thoughts and lessen their impact on your well-being. 

There are two main approaches to managing negative thinking – thought challenging and cognitive de-fusion. Each approach tackles negative thinking from a different angle and includes its own set of strategies. Thought challenging originated in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Cognitive de-fusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), often a form of CBT. 

Thought Challenging

Thought challenging is based on the idea that our thoughts are not always accurate reflections of reality. This approach encourages people to consider whether their thoughts are really true. It generally consists of these three steps:

1. Identify negative thoughts – The first step is to notice when you’re thinking negatively. You can do this by tuning in and paying attention to your thoughts or keeping a record of your negative thoughts in a daily journal. 
2. Check the facts – Once you’ve identified a negative thought, think about whether there is evidence to support the thought. You might ask yourself questions like, “Is there proof this thought is true?” and “Is there proof this thought is not true?”
3. Generate alternative thoughts – Once you’ve looked at the evidence, come up with thoughts that include all of the evidence. These are thoughts that offer a more balanced, accurate and realistic perspective.

Over time, thought challenging helps you cultivate a more critical mindset. This will help you to understand your patterns of negative thinking and develop a more realistic outlook on life.

Cognitive De-fusion

Another way to deal with negative thoughts is cognitive de-fusion. Instead of arguing with your thoughts, you learn to see your thoughts differently. This approach involves the following steps:

1. Accept your thoughts – Instead of trying to control, change, or get rid of your negative thoughts, cognitive de-fusion encourages you to see your thoughts as natural, normal products of the human mind.
2. See your thoughts as temporary – Start noticing your thoughts as passing events in your mind rather than facts or truths that need your attention and response. 
3. Create space – Instead of engaging with your thoughts, cognitive de-fusion encourages you to step back from them and see yourself as separate from your thoughts. You are not your thoughts, they are not the “truth”, do not have power over you, and cannot control you.   
4. Tune in to helpful thoughts – Once you’ve created space from your thoughts, you can decide which ones are worth paying attention to.  

Cognitive de-fusion helps you to allow your negative thoughts to come and go without feeling controlled or overwhelmed by them. Once you have this space from them, you can decide which ones are helpful and deserve your attention. 

Summary

While thought challenging and cognitive de-fusion offer different approaches to managing your negative thoughts, each have their own benefits. You can use either approach depending on your preference or unique situation. Some people prefer one approach over the other, or find that one approach works better in certain situations than another. 

The most important thing is to build a wide range of strategies for managing your thoughts that you can use flexibly, depending on the situation. Over time, this will help you feel more in control, confident in your ability to cope, and resilient.  

If you want to find new ways of managing your negative thoughts, check out the resources below or speak to a psychologist. 

Further resources

Change Your Thinking by Sarah Edelman provides a comprehensive look at thought challenging, as an essential skill of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). 

The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris provides a detailed explanation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), including the key skill of cognitive de-fusion.  

The team at Headstrong Psychology is trained and experienced in both CBT and ACT approaches. If you would like to explore our team and the treatments we use, please get in touch on 0431 998 351 or via our website.