Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 101: Making a Case Against Negative Thoughts

Thoughts pop in your head all the time, but that does not mean they are true. Once you have been thinking the same negative thought for a while, it eventually becomes a belief. To uproot these beliefs, we must argue a case against them.
Imagine a court hearing in your head. You are giving evidence of why the intrusive thought is a lie and cannot be believed. As you speak truth to the thought, it loses it's emotional power over you.
Next, you will deliberately focus thoughts on a truthful, positive replacement thought. This new thought will eventually become the automatic thought in your mind, but it takes some hard work to get there!