Have you ever wondered about all or nothing thinking or overgeneralization? Do you know what either of those concepts are? Did you know that your brain is sometimes tricking you?

Today is the first of 2 episodes where we're going to talk all about this- and if you find yourself using the words "always" or "never" frequently, you'll definitely find this one interesting. We're diving into these two cognitive distortions: all or nothing thinking and overgeneralization.

What are Cognitive Distortions?

According to the Cambridge dictionary, the term “cognitive” means “relating to or involving the processes of thinking and reasoning” and “distortions” means “a change to the intended or true meaning of something”. Therefore, cognitive distortions are irrational or biased thought patterns that lead to negative emotions and behavior.

There are 11 common cognitive distortions that we will review in this section. Learning these and noticing when they happen can help us more easily identify our unintentional models. WE ALL DO THIS. I'd say nearly every single day. The two concepts that we talk about on today's episode are all or nothing thinking and overgeneralization.

All or Nothing Thinking:

This is when we see things in an extreme black-or-white mindset with no sort of middle ground. When we are stuck in all-or-nothing thinking we are thinking in absolutes- meaning it must be this way (that we are making up in our minds) or not at all. Oftentimes, we use this against ourselves where we think we must either be a complete success or a total failure.

Overgeneralization- This thinking pattern happens when we draw broad, negative conclusions from an isolated event and apply it to everything. The big clue that lets us know we are overgeneralizing when we use words such as “always”, “never”, “everything”, and “nothing”. It can also be easily identified through global labels (ex: bad mom or terrible person)

Simply put, drawing broad, negative conclusions about yourself and your surroundings based on just a couple of experiences is a result of overgeneralization.

This is just a preview of what we dive into on today's episode. If you find yourself overgeneralizing situations or thinking words like "never"and/or "always" this episode is full of information that is applicable to you! You don't want to miss it.

Head over to the show notes: https://www.wifeteachermommy.com/podcast/all-or-nothing-thinking/

Head over to the YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/DCr4WRIp5DU

Key points on all or nothing thinking and overgeneralization:

• The concept that- thoughts create feelings, why thought work is important (when to use it)
• What "all or nothing thinking" is and how you may be doing it
• How saying words like "always" and "never" is a sign of all or nothing thinking
• What overgeneralization is
• The definition of cognitive distortions and how it may be affecting you
• What to do when we find ourselves doing either of these things