When using psychoeducational lessons while practicing rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) with clients, I find it worthwhile to define terms. Regarding this approach, within this blogpost I’ll examine the difference between thoughts and beliefs which occur automatically.
Per the American Psychological Association (APA), a thought is defined as (1) the process of thinking, (2) an idea, image, opinion, or other product of thinking, or (3) attention or consideration given to something or someone.
In common parlance, thinking merely represents the action of using one’s mind to produce thoughts—something such as an opinion within the mind. Interestingly, the origin of thoughts remains a mystery, as the gap in human knowledge regarding their existence is profound.
Noteworthy one source correctly states, “We are aware of our thoughts, so in that sense they are real. And yet, our thoughts do not exist outside of our awareness. There is nowhere else where the thought that is appearing to you at this moment is actually occurring.”
Prior to formally practicing REBT, I used to waste precious time arguing with people about the nature of thoughts. No longer am I as reckless with my remaining time in this life.
Besides, an automatic thought can pop into a person’s head, remain for a fleeting moment, and suddenly disappear. Fascinatingly, it isn’t at all unusual for that thought rarely or never to appear again.
Aside from thoughts, the APA defines a belief as (1) acceptance of the truth, reality, or validity of something, particularly in the absence of substantiation or (2) an association of some characteristic or attribute, usually evaluative in nature, with an attitude object (e.g., this car is reliable).
Colloquially, a belief is merely a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing. Whereas a thought may present as an opinion (e.g., rap music is annoying), a belief tends to hold an evaluation of someone or thing (i.e., rap music is bad).
Perhaps you wonder about how annoying rap music and bad rap music aren’t synonymous. An opinion about something isn’t the same thing as a moral evaluation of the matter at hand. To provide context regarding this matter, I ask that you humor me a personal anecdote.
When I was a young boy, I had chubby cheeks. Therefore, my aunts would often kiss my face whenever they’d see me. “Awww,” they’d say, “c’mere and let me kiss those cheeks!”
My opinion of their behavior was that it was annoying. However, I didn’t evaluate their actions as bad. After all, even as a child, I understood that my aunts were expressing love in their own way. Therefore, I believed it was good to be loved and thought it annoying to have my cheeks kissed.
Of course, thoughts don’t necessarily form around amoral appraisals within the mind. Sometimes, thoughts merely label what an individual detects or observes within an environment. For instance, I may think, “There’s a red pen resting on a counter that’s made of granite.”
Both thoughts and beliefs can occur automatically. And while there isn’t a breadth of knowledge regarding the origin of thought, quite a bit of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding has been devoted to the matter of beliefs. For instance, according to one source:
Based on past experiences, we develop simple beliefs, like believing there will be traffic on the road and, thus, deciding to leave early for a destination. Yet passionate beliefs represent strongly held theories or conclusions that are infused with intense emotion and therefore are activating or motivating.
These charged beliefs form the basis of our behavior given they become a value and thereby drive action. That is, our application of significance and meaning to something then determines an action, intention, or purpose.
The distinction between a simple belief (e.g., there may be traffic if I leave at 8 a.m., so I preferably should instead leave at 7 a.m.) and a passionate belief (e.g., there absolutely shouldn’t be this much traffic on the road) is significant and in REBT is known as “self-disturbance.”
Thus, REBT theory maintains that when an unexpected Activating event occurs and a person uses an irrational Belief about the situation, it’s one’s unhelpful attitude and not the undesirable circumstance that causes unpleasant emotional, bodily sensation, and behavioral Consequences.
Rather than remaining self-disturbed, an individual is invited to try Disputation which may lead to an Effective new belief that’s used in place of an unproductive self-narrative. With the ABC model, a person learns to stop needless suffering which is caused by unhelpful assumptions.
Noteworthy, thoughts can function as precursors to beliefs. Merely telling myself as a child that kisses on my cheeks were annoying didn’t evoke much emotion. However, if I were to have self-disturbed about the matter, I could’ve automatically transitioned into use of a self-upsetting belief.
For instance, perhaps before visiting with my aunts I thought that it would be annoying to be kissed on my face. Then, when actually visiting with them and my aunts showered me in kisses on my cheeks, I could’ve deterministically believed that it was an awful experience.
Even still, the bridge between a simple thought or belief and a passionate thought or belief is wherein an inference rests. This is where matters can become a bit trickier.
According to the APA, an inference is defined as a conclusion deduced from an earlier premise or premises according to valid rules of inference, or the process of drawing such a conclusion; some hold that an inference, as contrasted with a mere conclusion, requires that the person making it actually believe that the inference and the premises from which it is drawn are true.
Suppose that I thought leaving at 7 a.m. in order to avoid traffic would allow me to arrive at a location during a desired time. The inference associated with this thought is that by leaving earlier I should, must, or ought to evade traffic with careful planning and execution of my plan.
However, perhaps other people had similar thoughts and inferences that morning. When I left home early and encountered heavy traffic, I then unhelpfully believed, “There absolutely shouldn’t be this much traffic on the road!”
The inference bridged the simple thought and a self-disturbing belief. This cognitive and emotive interplay can occur both automatically or in a methodical fashion. According to one source:
Automatic thoughts are streams of conscious beliefs that occur with an emotion. Sometimes referred to as inferences, these thoughts are frequently negative distortions of reality and as such are not the same as irrational beliefs.
If my inference is merely that leaving home early will help me to beat traffic, the inferred meaning isn’t necessarily a cognitive factor that will cause self-disturbance. On the other hand, an irrational belief is something to which I’m convicted and causes me to become disturbed.
With this understanding, it’s sensible to wonder about what may be done to disrupt this self-upsetting process. To answer this internal inquiry, one source states (page 81):
Perhaps uniquely among major psychotherapies and self-help procedures, REBT fully recognizes that we can and do have conscious and unconscious ideas behind our “automatic” or habituated feelings and actions. It shows you how to look for and identify and then dispute and significantly change your philosophies that do not seem to work best for you—notably, your irrational philosophies.
Unproductive personal philosophies of life, also referred to as “attitudes” or “irrational beliefs” in REBT literature, can be disputed in order to yield more effective or adaptive new beliefs. Expanding upon the matter of disputation, one source states (page 11):
REBT looks for people’s automatic negative thoughts and shows them how to dispute them. But it also routinely looks for the absolutistic shoulds, oughts, and musts that lie behind them, finds these musts, shows them to patients, and teaches people how to dispute and change them into preferences.
REBT shows people that they consciously and unconsciously choose to disturb themselves by escalating their preferences into demands and cravings, and that they can train themselves not to do so and thereby create healthy feelings and emotions.
Returning to the traffic example, I could adaptively tell myself that while I prefer to arrive on time, there’s nothing validating an irrational belief which demands that I must not be late. The same holds true for kisses on my cheeks when I was a child.
The distinction between a preference (i.e., what I’d like to happen) and a demand (i.e., what I maintain must happen) isn’t always consciously understood. This is where the automatic nature of unconscious cognitive content comes into play.
Understanding that thoughts, inferences, and beliefs can occur automatically is the first consideration of the current blogpost. The second matter worth contemplating is that even when becoming proficient with REBT practice these beliefs won’t go away entirely.
This is a matter I find that some clients need reiterated time and time again. As well, it’s a topic I addressed in a blogpost entitled Wacky Beliefs, as I stated, “There isn’t some point within the future that these automatic beliefs stop appearing—not as long as you’re alive anyway.”
Therefore, first know that thoughts, inferences, and beliefs can occur automatically. Second, understand that as long as you live, you’ll likely experience automatic cognitive content of this sort.
Last, and perhaps most important, is to realize that you can do something about automatic mental content. If you have the ability to dispute the matters of your mind in order to experience an improved response, why wouldn’t you continually do so?
This is a method of rational living. Knowing that automatic cognitive content exists and that it’ll likely never stop existing, though taking upon oneself to do something about this matter by continuing to challenge unhelpful mental processes is what REBT is all about.
If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
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