Theme 9 - Help Clients Learn Methods to Cope With Cognitive Distortions

7/29/2019 Theme 9 - Help Clients Learn Methods to Cope With Cognitive Distortions

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Theme 9:Help Clients Learn Methods To

Cope with Cognitive Distortions


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What are Cognitive Distortions

Faulty beliefs or assumptions arising

from errors in thinking,misinterpretation or faultyperception of reality

Cognitive distortions are associated with awide range of mental health and substanceabuse disorders and have also beenimplicated in relapse to substances


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Examples of Cognitive Distortions

1Once an addict, always

an addict

2Ill never use alcohol ordrugs again

3A drink wont hurt

4Relapse cant happen to me

A 12-steps

reference to

cognitivedistortions that

recovering

persons must

alter to avoidrelapse


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CognitiveDistortions

How do cognitive distortions

contribute to a relapse?

Some of clients

cognitive errors &distortions may

increase the

probability that an

initial relapse mayescalate into a full

relapse


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Types of Cognitive Distortions

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2

3

4

5

Over generalizing

Selective Abstraction

Excessive Responsibility

Self-Reference

Assuming Temporal Causality


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Types of Cognitive Distortions

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7

8

9

Catastrophizing

Dichotomous Thinking

Absolute Willpower Breakdown

Body Over mind


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1 OVER GENERALIZING

It is the most common cognitive error that mediates the

escalation from a slip to a full relapse.

The lapse is taken as a sign or symptom of total

relapse, an over-generalization to a total failure from asingle event

A person comes to a general conclusion based on a

single incident or piece of evidence. If something bad

happens once, we expect it to happen over and over

again. A person may see a single unpleasant event as

a never-ending pattern of defeat.


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2 SELECTIVE ABSTRACTION

A single mistake or slip is selectively abstracted as an

indication of total failure

A person picks out from a complex situation only

certain features and ignores that could lead to adifferent conclusion

The only event that matter are failures, deprivations etc. I

should measure myself by errors, weaknesses


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3 EXCESSIVE RESPONSIBILITY

This error is related to the tendency of some people to

attribute the cause of a lapse to personal, internal

failings such as a lack willpower or moral weakness

The person tends to assume total responsibility orpersonal causality making it difficult to resume control

I am responsible for all the bad things, or failures


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4 ASSUMING TEMPORAL CAUSALITY

It is the tendency to generalize over time with the

following erroneous assumption

If it has been true in the past, then it is always going to

be true

Once an addict, always an addict


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5 SELF-REFERRENCE

Describes the perception that a lapse will become the

focus of everyone elses attention

I am the centre of everyones attention, particularly my

failures. I am the cause of misfortunes


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6 CATASTROPHIZING

We expect disaster to strike, no matter what. This is

also referred to as magnifying or minimizing

We hear about a problem and use what if questions

(e.g. What if tragedy strikes? What if it happen to me?)

The only event that matter are failures, deprivations etc. I

should measure myself by errors, weaknesses


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7 DICHOTOMOUS THINKING

This cognitive error is based on the assumption that

everything is either one extreme or another

The lapse is viewed as a sign of dichotomous switch

from the white side of abstinence to the black sideof relapse and failure

There is no grey area. All lapses are relapses;

abstinence once violated, can never be regained


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8 ABSOLUTE WILLPOWER BREAKDOWN

The faulty assumption is Willpower is absolute, once

willpower has failed, loss of control is inevitable


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9 BODY OVER MIND

The faulty assumption : Once the deed is done and

the drug is in my body, physiological addiction or

disease processes take over that I am powerless to

control

This is a powerful belief in a drug-oriented culture.

The belief that a single shot of heroin or alcohol is

sufficient to produce a lifelong overpowering physicaladdiction that cannot be voluntarily overcome.


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Cognitive Treatment Cognitive Restructuring

Title

Client identifies & monitors

Dysfunctional automatic thoughts

Client learns torecognize connections

between thoughts,

emotions and actions

Client evaluates the

reasonableness of the

Automatic thoughts

Client must identifyand alter

dysfunctional

assumptions

Client learns to substitute

more reasonable thoughts


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Abstinence Violation effect describes a type ofreaction by a drug user or drinker to a lapse,

which may influence whether a lapse leads to

relapse

It describes the clients emotional response to

the initial lapse and the causes to which the

person attributes the lapse.

Abstinence Violation Effect

(Marlatt & Gordon)


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Theme 9 - Help Clients Learn Methods to Cope With Cognitive Distortions

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