Thought challenging — identifying and evaluating the automatic negative thoughts driving ethics and morality — is the core skill of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Identifying Automatic Negative Thoughts in Ethics and Morality
Automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) in ethics and morality are fast, involuntary, and often taken as facts. They drive ethics and morality while remaining unexamined.
Common ANT patterns in ethics and morality: catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, mind-reading, personalization.
The Thought Challenging Process for Ethics and Morality
- Notice the thought: 'I just had the thought that...'
- Identify the distortion: What type of thinking error is this?
- Examine the evidence: What actually supports this thought? What contradicts it?
- Generate alternatives: What's a more accurate and helpful perspective?
- Rate the change: How do you feel now compared to before?
Building the Skill Over Time for Ethics and Morality
Initially, thought challenging requires deliberate effort. With practice, the mind automatically generates balanced perspectives when ethics and morality-related thoughts arise.