Automatic Thoughts: Everyone has unpremeditated, spontaneous interpretations of events, self, and others. These thoughts are experienced as occurring to us without conscious control and are therefore called automatic thoughts. They can be very short, quick and almost reflexive. A benign example is when someone across the street calls your name, you probably think "Who, me?" and turn to look. Another automatic but less benign thought might be "Oh Oh, what's wrong?" Another automatic and dysfunctional thought might be "Someone's after me, I better run."

Underlying Assumptions: First let's articulate what we mean by the word belief. A belief is an assertion, proposition, claim or expectancy of reality that is either true or false, even if unproven and un-provable. As such it is a thought or collection of thoughts deemed to be true. Underlying assumptions are beliefs mistaken as truths. In the Cognitive model, these take the form of conditional statements that will be identified by an If or an IF ... Then .... For example: If I get close to a person I'll end up getting hurt. If you let your guard down, then people will get you. If we reveal family secrets, bad things will happen. These underlying assumptions actually give rise to automatic thoughts and as such are below and the source of many if not all automatic thoughts.

Schemas: One step below underlying assumptions are the constellations of thoughts that comprise core beliefs. They are unconditional (do not have an If) and serve as a basis for sorting, filtering, categorizing and interpreting situations, self and others. For example: I'm not attractive. I'm not loveable. You can't trust anyone. It's a dog eat dog world.

Cognitive Distortions: Human thought processes are sometimes illogical. As such, when these cognitive distortions take place we can expect to feel and/or behave with some degree of inappropriateness.

• Dichotomous thinking -Things are seen in terms of two mutually exclusive categories with no "shades of gray" in between. For example, believing that one is either a success or a failure and that anything short of a perfect performance is a total failure.
• Overgeneralization - A specific event is seen as being characteristic of life in general rather than as being one event among many. For example, concluding that an inconsiderate response from one's spouse shows that she doesn't care despite her having shown consideration on other occasions.
• Selective abstraction - A single aspect of a complex situation is the focus of attention and other relevant aspects of the situation are ignored. For example, focusing on the one negative comment in a performance evaluation received at work and overlooking a number of positive comments.
• Disqualifying the positive - Positive experiences, which would conflict with the individual's negative views are discounted by declaring that they "don't count." For example, disbelieving positive feedback from friends and colleagues and thinking, "They're only saying that to be nice."
• Mind reading - The individual assumes that others are reacting negatively without evidence that this is the case. For example, thinking "I just know he thought I was an idiot!", despite the other person's having behaved politely.
• Fortune-telling - The individual reacts as though his or her negative expectations about future events are established facts. For example, thinking "He's leaving me, I just know it!" and acting as though this is definitely true.
• Catastrophizing - Negative events that might occur are treated as intolerable catastrophes rather than being seen in perspective. For example, thinking "Oh my God, what if I faint!" without considering that, while fainting may be unpleasant and embarrassing, it is not terribly dangerous.
• Minimization - Positive characteristics or experiences are treated as real but insignificant. For example, thinking "Sure, I'm good at my job, but so what, my parents don't respect me."
• Emotional reasoning,-,Assuming that emotional reactions necessarily reflect the true situation. For example, deciding that since one feels hopeless, the situation must really be hopeless.
• "Should" Statements,-,The use of "should" and "have to" statements to provide motivation or control behavior. For example, thinking "I shouldn't feel aggravated. She's my mother, I have to listen to her."
• Labeling - Attaching a global label to oneself rather than referring to specific events or actions. For example, thinking, "I'm a failure!" rather than, "Boy, I blew that one!"
• Personalization - Assuming that one is the cause of a particular external event when, in fact, other factors are responsible. For example, assuming that a supervisor's lack of friendliness is a reflection of her feelings about the client rather than realizing that she is upset over a death in the family.