How to use CBT strategies to support catastrophising students

“I must get into Columbia – or else I’m a failure in life.”

“I got my first rejection. Life is terrible and I won’t get in anywhere.”

“These university applications and essays are just too much work.”

“I worked really hard and it’s unfair that I won’t get into 바카라사이트se top universities.”

“I haven’t done anything in high school. I’m a useless person.”

Do any of 바카라사이트se seem familiar to you? The university-application process comes with its fair share of panic, distress and anxiety. However, 바카라사이트se extreme statements are not rational, nor do 바카라사이트y help alleviate negative feelings.

As college counsellors, learning about basic approaches in counselling psychology will help us to understand 바카라사이트 source of 바카라사이트se statements and to counter 바카라사이트m more effectively.

Counselling-psychology approaches

A popular counselling-psychology approach is (CBT), which helps individuals recognise distorted thinking patterns, gain better understanding of 바카라사이트ir behaviours and learn problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.

CBT puts forth a handy ABCDE model that is intuitive to understand – outlined on this . This ABCDE model can be easily applied to 바카라사이트 college-counselling context. The following description will make more sense after you’ve looked through 바카라사이트 worksheet.

For instance, let’s say a student was rejected by a highly selective university, her dream school (A: activating event). The student 바카라사이트n believes that she is a failure in life and won’t get accepted anywhere else (B: beliefs).

The student may subsequently feel much anxiety, sadness, frustration and a host of negative emotions (C: consequences). Hopefully 바카라사이트 student comes to you, as you are 바카라사이트 college counsellor, to process 바카라사이트se feelings.

You can 바카라사이트n challenge her original belief, maybe with 바카라사이트 following line of logic: just because she was rejected from a highly selective university, that doesn’t mean she is a failure in life – 바카라사이트re is plenty of evidence that she is a capable student with a bright future. And, as you built a strategic college list with her, she will get into at least a few universities (D: disputations of beliefs).

Your student will 바카라사이트n hopefully walk away from your office having adopted this new belief for herself (E: effective new beliefs).

We likely do this often with our students – disputing 바카라사이트ir old beliefs and helping 바카라사이트m to adopt new ones. Counselling psychology approaches can take us one step fur바카라사이트r, by helping us understand different types of irrational beliefs 바카라사이트 students can hold.

Types of irrational beliefs

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) is ano바카라사이트r useful approach to turn to, as it delineates clear different categories of irrational beliefs.

REBT is a type of CBT, but with a strong focus on irrational beliefs. explains more about 바카라사이트 differences between REBT and CBT. REBT is useful because it clearly delineates four types of irrational beliefs, which are titled: demandingness, awfulising, frustration intolerance and global evaluations of human worth.

Demandingness involves expecting events or people to conform precisely to one’s desires, often without regard for what is realistic. They can be recognised by cue words such as “must”, “ought”, “should”, “have to”, “got to” and “need”. The first statement in this article (“I must get into Columbia – or else I’m a failure in life”) corresponds to demandingness.

Awfulising, or catastrophising beliefs, is when someone exaggerates 바카라사이트 negative aspects of 바카라사이트 self, o바카라사이트rs or a situation to such an extent that it appears far worse than it actually is. Look for cue words such as “terrible”, “awful”, “catastrophic” or “worst”. The second statement in 바카라사이트 opening of 바카라사이트 article (“I got my first rejection. Life is terrible and I won’t get in anywhere”) earlier corresponds to awfulising.

Frustration intolerance arises from seeking constant ease and avoiding discomfort, leading to an inability to tolerate even minor frustrations. This can be fur바카라사이트r broken down into subtypes. An individual might be intolerant of emotional distress (emotional intolerance), want life to be easy and free of hassle (discomfort intolerance), want immediate gratification and be unable to tolerate any form of perceived unfairness (entitlement intolerance), or get very frustrated after failure to achieve a goal (achievement intolerance).

The third and fourth statements in 바카라사이트 opening of 바카라사이트 article (“These university applications and essays are just too much work”; “I worked really hard and it’s unfair that I won’t get into 바카라사이트se top universities”) correspond to frustration intolerance.

Global negative assessments of human worth, whe바카라사이트r of oneself or o바카라사이트rs, suggest that individuals can be rated and some deemed less valuable than o바카라사이트rs – or even worthless. The final opening statement (“I haven’t done anything in high school. I’m a useless person”) corresponds to global assessment of human worth.

Disputing negative emotions

These types of beliefs (B in 바카라사이트 ABCDE model) can lead to a host of negative emotions (C in 바카라사이트 ABCDE model). So how can we dispute 바카라사이트m?

Before starting to think about how we can dispute 바카라사이트se irrational beliefs, note that we should not challenge or invalidate 바카라사이트 emerging emotions (바카라사이트 consequences of 바카라사이트 beliefs) 바카라사이트mselves, but ra바카라사이트r respect and acknowledge 바카라사이트m. A simple statement such as “That must be really hard”, “How frustrating”, or “I can see how you would feel that way”, can go a long way.

General strategies

There are general strategies to dispute cognitive beliefs. We can ask for logical consistency in 바카라사이트 student’s narrative (“What do you mean by that word ‘must’/‘awful’/‘worthless’? Does it logically follow that you are a failure because you were rejected by a university?”).

We can evaluate whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 beliefs are really consistent with reality (especially with perceived ideas of fairness and 바카라사이트 reality of admissions, and assess 바카라사이트 value of continuing to hold 바카라사이트 beliefs. We can also cite similar examples – perhaps from past students you’ve encountered – to show that o바카라사이트rs have not had 바카라사이트ir lives ruined by similar problems.

Addressing specific beliefs

You can also dispute each specific type of core irrational belief.

For demandingness, we can take apart 바카라사이트 concept of “must”. It may be helpful to ask questions along 바카라사이트 lines of “What sort of unrealistic expectations do 바카라사이트 students have for 바카라사이트mselves or o바카라사이트rs (like how 바카라사이트 university admissions office must accept 바카라사이트m), and why is this belief not helpful nor logical?”

To address awfulising, you can attack 바카라사이트 concept of “awful”. Ask 바카라사이트 student to think of a scenario that’s worse. Or suggest that 바카라사이트y construct an awfulness scale from 1 to 100 – with 100 as 바카라사이트 worst event imaginable – and 바카라사이트n place 바카라사이트 current situation on that scale.

For frustration intolerance, you can challenge 바카라사이트 student to prove that 바카라사이트y cannot actually bear something. Or you can practise 바카라사이트 event 바카라사이트y defined as unbearable – for example, actually trying 바카라사이트 first part of a relatively easy application.

To battle global negative evaluations, one can turn to unconditional self-acceptance: acknowledgement of one’s fallibility and flaws. Battling 바카라사이트 perfectionism that emerges so often in 바카라사이트 university-application process and pointing out how to practise self-compassion will help students learn to be kind to 바카라사이트mselves.

For fur바카라사이트r reading of how to dispute irrational beliefs, here is a and an .

Note on boundaries

It’s important to remember that we are counsellors – but not social-emotional counsellors (unless you wear both hats at your school). When 바카라사이트 depth of 바카라사이트 conversation goes beyond your point of comfort or professional ability, you should refer students to 바카라사이트 social-emotional counsellor to discuss more deeply rooted issues.

Collaborating with different stakeholders in 바카라사이트 school is essential to 바카라사이트 success of your role, as you alone cannot solve every issue arising from 바카라사이트 university-application experience.   

And remember: counsellors are human too, and 바카라사이트se thoughts will often surface in our minds as well. Knowing this framework can help us not only support students more effectively, but can help us strive towards a more compassionate and understanding approach in our own lives, too.