Board Certified in Clinical Psychology
Registrant, National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology
843-571-4005
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Cognitive Challenge
Cognitive challenge is a very specific journaling technique. Most of the time when we get anxious it’s because our thoughts are irrationally fearful. For example, a woman leaves the gym in her car just a few minutes after her husband leaves the gym on his motorcycle. Ambulances and police cars speed by her with sirens; she takes an alternate route home. From the car, she calls her husband at home, since he should be there already. He doesn’t answer, and she keeps calling. When she arrives home, he’s not there. She jumps to the conclusion that he must have been in an accident, and she gets panicked. In cognitive challenge, she would start by writing out her emotions - fear. Then, she jots down the situation (husband not home, accident on the way home, he left before me). Then, and most importantly, she writes down her anxiety -producing thoughts. They may be like this: The next step in cognitive challenge is to challenge those thoughts. What’s irrational about them? She can take each one and challenge them. You can see that the second set of thoughts is much more reasonable. Sometimes you’ll be able to do cognitive challenge on your own, and, other times, you’ll need help from others challenging your negative thoughts.
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Board Certified in Clinical Psychology Registrant, National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology
843-571-4005
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