My explanation:
A:I am at work, my boss tells me to send a fax off that I forgot to do.
B: My belief is: I am useless at my job, and probably useless in general.
C: Emotion/beahviour related to belief: negative, shaky, black and depressed. Try to reach perfection by doing EVERYTHING exactly PERFECT.
D: challenge the belief: I am always trying to be perfect and this just puts more pressure on me, and makes me feel ill when I fail. Do I have to be perfect all the time? And if I am not am I REALLY a failure?
E: more adaptive belief: it is okay to not be perfect. Perfection is impossible. I will try my best without putting such a high standard on myself.
Work is a big one for me – I am always trying my ABSOLUTE HARDEST ALL THE TIME – and SMART has been, well for a good couple of weeks now, a great help in my actually growing into a more harmonious pattern.
I learnt CBT a slightly different way for OCD – using Socratic questioning which is an adventure in itself. I will up a little piece on that some time.
To the unaware it may seem cold and unfeeling (an era of notions of “blocked emotions” and “feeling our feelings”) but it sure aint cold when a few ABC’s free up my thinking to read poetry, to talk to friends, to enjoy a days fishing. Its reality testing, finding out the truth, and moving on. I use it when I need to, like a few other little CBT tools I have got.
i am also aware, thanks to my 5 sessions with a CBT therapist, of some shocking core beliefs i have. And they are fading away daily. these beliefs have played huge parts in my drinking, relationships, and emotional life for YEARS.