---She is always doing that to me.
-Denying responsibility; for example,
---I cannot help it. That is just my temper.
-Self-judging; for example,
---I can never do anything right.
---The other kids think I am stupid.
---I am the worst dancer.
---I am going to do awful.
To develop rational thinking, Seligman, Reivich, Jaycox, and Gillham (1995) advice children to
use clues and to find the evidence for the negative and self-defeating belief using the following
Step 1: Thought catching; that is, being aware of the irrational beliefs at the times the child feels
Step 2: Evaluating the thought by acknowledging that it is not necessarily true and accurate, and
seeing the belief about herself and/or the world as a hypothesis that needs to be tested.
Step 3: Generating a more accurate explanation about the negative event and using that
explanation to challenge the irrational thought.
Step 4: Decatastrophizing by redirecting the child’s energy away from feeling sorry, troubled, or
angry about the event and toward solving the problem.
