Strategies for Challenging Negative Thinking

Some client’s may need support in combating their negative thinking. They may be feeling anxious or dwell on negative events.

Some strategies for negative thinking include:

• Encourage your client to challenge negative thinking with positive thinking.
  • If your client engages in negative self-talk, assist them in reframing these statements to more positive statements.
  • For example, if your client  says, “I can’t do it,” focus on what they have been able to do and help her identify what they need to do to complete the task or solve a problem. 

• Positive self-talk is another strategy that may be helpful.
  • Positive self-talk (constructive messages) can help students feel more confident about their abilities and change their perspectives.
  • Teach Student to use positive self-talk when confronted with frustrations (e.g., “This might be hard, but I can do it!).
  • Model positive self-talk and encourage the use of self-talk to promote a positive emotional response and challenge negative thinking. 

• Give your client lots of encouragement and positive praise, and help her/him focus on the positives in their day (e.g., what went well for her, what she was able to do successfully)

• Your client could use the following questions to help them through negative thinking.
  • Through answering the questions they may come to a more realistic picture of what is making them anxious:
    • Am I falling into a thinking trap (e.g., catastrophizing or overestimating danger)? What is the evidence that this thought is true? What is the evidence that this  thought is not true?
    • Have I confused a thought with a fact?
    • What would I tell a friend if they had the same thought?
    • What would a friend say about my thought?
    • Am I 100% sure that ___________will happen?
    • How many times has __________happened before?
    • Is __________so important that my future depends on it?
    • What is the worst that could happen?
    • If it did happen, what can I do to cope with or handle it?
    • Is my judgment based on the way I feel instead of facts?
    • Am I confusing “possibility” with “certainty”? It may be possible, but is it likely?
    • Is this a hassle or a horror?

Additional Information

• It might also be helpful to view the anxiety page if your client has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.