Program stream: This module applies to the anxiety and depression programs.
The Balanced Thinking module teaches clients how to change their automatic thoughts into balanced thoughts.
This section reviews automatic thoughts and introduces the idea of balanced thoughts. It stresses that we shouldn't replace negative thoughts with overly positive ones, but instead we should strive for realistic and believable thoughts. Over time the balanced thoughts will replace the automatic thoughts with ones that are less depressing or create less anxiety.
This section also provides an example of how to take a negative or worrisome automatic thought and change it to a more realistic balanced thought. A short quiz follows the section to test the client's knowledge retention.
The Changing Thoughts section breaks down the process of changing thoughts into steps to help the client with this process:
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Record the information using the thought journal, including the situation, feeling, and automatic thoughts.
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Identify the feelings that they want to change and identify the Hot Thought, which is the thought that drives the unwanted feeling.
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Identify the evidence for and against the Hot Thought by asking the following questions: "What is the evidence for this thought?", "What is the evidence against this thought?", "Has this situation happened before? How many times? How many times has the depressed or anxious thought come true?", "What else could happen? What are the best outcomes I can imagine? What is the most realistic outcome I can think of?", and "What would I tell a family member or friend if they had this thought?".
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Use the evidence gathered for and against the thought to come up with a more balanced thought.
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Re-rate the intensity of the original feeling on a scale of 1 - 10 and whether coming up with a balanced thought has reduced the intensity.
The Tips section provides the client with further information about creating balanced thoughts, including the following:
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Ensure the evidence for and against the thought is made up of facts (objective) and not interpretations (subjective).
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Write it down to help keep track of how it is going.
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Write it down as soon as possible, when it is easier to track what was being thought in the moment.
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Watch for patterns over time.
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Create coping cards for frequent automatic thoughts that contain the reworked balance thought.
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Stay away from overly positive thinking.
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Practice balancing thoughts frequently.
Examples are provided at the end of the section with a specific example for each persona and depression style or anxiety type presented in the earlier modules. A short quiz follows the section to test client retention of the content.
The task for this module prompts the client to revisit an automatic thought, or to create a new one. The exercise requires writing a Hot Thought, evidence for or against the thought, and a new balanced thought.
It asks the client to consider how replacing hot thoughts with balanced thoughts can help them. They are then asked to rank the importance of achieving this goal on a scale of 1 - 10 and identify any potential barriers.
Lastly, the client is asked to select a confidence rating on how confident they are they can make the change and consider any supports that can help them with their confidence.