Our thoughts directly impact our emotions. One way to change the way we feel is to change the way that we think. In order to change our thoughts, we first need to become aware of our thinking. 

We all have core beliefs – beliefs about ourselves, the world, and others. When we have negative core beliefs, they can have a negative effect on us without us even realizing. Negative core beliefs often result in automatic negative thought (ANTs). So if we have the core belief ‘I am not good enough’ when we make a mistake, our ANTs might be, ‘I am useless, I am going to fail at this, why do I even bother..’

The first step in changing is to become aware of our ANTs. Once we identify them, we can challenge them, looking at how useful and true they are. And to come up with ways to change them to more realistic and helpful alternatives. For example, ‘I am not good enough’ could be, ‘I am human, fallible, and loveable’.   

Automatic Negative Thoughts: ANTs

We have thousands of thoughts per day.  Most happen without us noticing.  They are automatic and habitual.  The alarm triggers, Get up, can’t be late! Stomach rumbling triggers, Better eat before I get grumpy. 

Many of our automatic thoughts are negative.  It’s totally normal to have automatic negative thoughts.  They are healthy, functional, and guide us through our day. But some automatic negative thoughts hinder us, make us feel overly anxious, hopeless, or helpless.  These Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) are the ones we want to work with. 

Identify ANTs

When an event triggers a harsh inner critic, we can say some awful things to ourselves. We might know that the things we are saying aren’t true or we might believe the thoughts completely.

ABC Diary

In the ABC thought diary, record your triggers, ANTs, emotions, and reactions. We will use them in the next session.

Trigger: Activating event	Beliefs/Thoughts		Consequence
Something happens	I tell myself something		I feel … as a result	I do something
What happened right before you felt anxious or down? If you can’t write it down immediately, write it down as soon as you can.	Automatic Negative Thoughts?  Rate your level of belief 1-100%	% %	Emotions? Use the emotions list if you are having trouble identifying how you feel?	What was your reaction?