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WELLNESS & HEALTH C o r n e r
5 Thinking Traps and How to Escape Them
BRIAN MOSKOWITZ
I know what you’re thinking. At least I pattern of experiencing guilt and
assume I do when I fall into the thinking sadness.
trap of mindreading. And you’re just as
guilty of mindreading. We all are.
The THEM thinking trap is when
you believe that other people or
That constant voice in our heads creates circumstances are the sole cause of
thought s that drive our emotions, our your setbacks and challenges. Effects
behaviors, and our physiology. And of the THEM trap are anger, frustration,
when that happens, we can’t think and aggression towards those you
straight. We fall into thinking traps blame for your problems.
that prevent us from seeing a situation
as it truly is and instead we see the CATASTROPHIZING is when you start
situation through our old habits and telling yourself stories about every
beliefs. When the judge tells you to possible worst-case outcome.
You
approach the bench, what goes through irrationally overestimate the threat
your mind? When your spouse/partner while severely underestimating your
sends you a message that says you ability to cope. Effects of catastrophizing
need to talk when you get home, how do are anxiety, distraction, agitation, lack
you react? If your answer is anything of focus, headaches, and not engaging
more than curiosity and suspending in a productive way.
judgment until you hear what they
have to say, then chances are you’ve HELPLESSNESS is when you believe
fallen into a thinking trap.
the negative event is permanent and
pervasive across all areas of your life,
Five of the most common thinking and that you have no control. You
traps are: (1) Mindreading, (2) Me, (3) believe bad things are here to stay and
Them, (4) Catastrophizing, and (5) that there’s nothing you can do about
Helplessness.
it. Effects of helplessness are feelings
of hopelessness, depression, feeling
MINDREADING is when you assume you drained and depleted, and lack of
know what another person is thinking motivation—you have no energy to do
or assume they know what you’re anything, and you become passive.
thinking. The effect of mindreading is
that it blocks communication. When Do you recognize any of these thinking
you think you know what someone is traps? Which do you fall into most
thinking, you don’t ask them questions. often? For me, it’s been mindreading.
Why would you? You already know The good news is there’s a way to
what they’re thinking.
So when escape. Dr. Karen Reivich, the Director
your friend says they’ll meet you at of Resilience and Positive Psychology
Starbucks and you respond “okay”— Training Programs at the University of
assuming you know which Starbucks Pennsylvania, developed a skill called
they’re thinking of—don’t be surprised “Real-Time Resilience” that you can
when you end up in different locations. use to escape from a thinking trap.
The ME thinking trap is when you
believe you’re the sole cause of every The skill of “Real-Time Resilience” is
setback and problem. It’s all your fault. to challenge the thought/thinking trap
The effect of the ME trap is a repeated in real-time as you hear the mental
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chatter. Dr. Reivich provides three
strategies and short phrases to help
you talk yourself out of the thinking
trap. The first is using specific and
detailed evidence to prove to yourself
why your initial thought is not true.
Create a big, bright, vivid picture of the
evidence in your mind to crowd out
the counterproductive thought. Use
the sentence starter, “That’s not true
because __________” to prime your
mind to start the flow of evidence.
The
second
is
reframing
the
counterproductive thought strategically
using optimism when you need it. The
sentence starter here is “A more helpful
way to see this is __________” or “A
better way to see this is __________.”
Then go on a rant about all the ways
you can see the situation in a helpful or
better way.
The third is having a plan. This strategy
is particularly effective when you’re
stuck in the catastrophizing thinking
trap. Tell yourself, “If x happens, I
will y.” By developing a contingency
plan, you escape the thinking trap and
relieve your anxiety.
Now it’s your turn to use “Real-Time
Resilience.” Pick a current or upcoming
stressful situation where you need to
perform at your best. Make a list of 5
counterproductive thoughts you might
have in that situation. Then for each
counterproductive thought use one
of the strategies above to generate
a response. Remember to use the
sentence starters.
Good luck with your escape!
Brian M. Moskowitz is the Founder of
Attorney Revolution, Inc., he can be
reached at Brian@AttorneyRevolution.
com.