Cognitive restructuring
'Cognition' is a word used to denote a thought or belief, and 'restructuring' involves challenging a cognition by looking at the evidence for or against it. The basic idea behind cognitive restructuring is that thoughts themselves are not facts; you need to consider whether the thoughts you are having are true and to consider whether there are any other ways to thinking about a particular situation. At first this can be a real challenge: we often believe what we think and don't question our own thoughts. However, often our thinking is biased, and with perfectionism it can be biased towards thinking too negatively and harshly about yourself.
Today's session
Welcome to Session Four.
This session will explore the use of self-criticism and self-compassion as motivators for reaching your goals.
You will be required to identify your 'inner-critic' and to come up with alternative thoughts using self-compassion.
​
This session will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.
​
This content has been adapted from the book Overcoming Perfectionism by Roz Shafran, Sarah Egan, and Tracey Wade. Special thanks to the authors for allowing the reproduction of their content for this online program.