Phobias:
bugs, snakes, cats, horses, knives, flying, darkness, stores, small enclosed places, going out alone, injections, dentists, driving on freeways, spiders, dogs, birds, gunds, heights, deep water, public bathrooms, crowds, going out, medications, doctors, driving, driving on dirt roads (p.184-5)

On examination negative thinking can very often be identified as distorted thinking. When you become aware of the distortions in your thinking you will be able to actually change negative thoughts to positive ones, effectively eliminating the depression and anxiety that these thoughts create.

Distorted thoughts can be easily identified because they:

Filtering entails looking at only one part of a situation to the exclusion of everything else.
Example: Thanksigiving is going to be a disaster, I get along so horribly with my mother
Distorted Perception: My enjoyment of the Thanksgiving holiday depends exclusively on how I get along with my mother
Rational Comeback: Even though I often fight with my mother or feel hurt by her, I have a great relationship with my father and sister, brother-in-law and nephew. They're going to be there too, and there's a good chance that I'll have a decent time

Polarized Thinking involves perceiving everything at the extremes, as either black or white with nothing in between.
Example: I had trouble scraping together the money for the rent this month. I'm a horrible spouse, and a failure as a provider
Distorted Perception: My financial performance this month defines my worth as a spouse and a provider
Rational Comeback: I had a bad month, without a lot of work. Some times I have much better months. My wife says that she loves me and that I'm a good husband, no matter what kind of month I've had. The economy's bad now and we're both working hard to make ends meet

Overgeneralization is when you reach a broad, generalized conclusion based on just one piece of evidence
Example: My friend rejected me, therefore nobody will ever love me
Distorted Perception: This one rejection is the sole determinant of whether or not I'll be loved by other people in the future
Rational Comeback: Just because this one friend rejected me, it doesn't mean that no one will ever love me again. It just means that the one person rejected me. Many people do like me and I continue to make new friends

Mind reading is just what it sounds like: you base assumptions and conclusions on your "ability" to know other people's thoughts
Example: He looked at his watch while I was in the middle of my presentation. He was afraid that I was boring everyone
Distorted Perception: I know what he was thinking about when he looked at his watch
Rational Comeback: Only he knows what he was thinking about when he looked at his watch (if it was even a conscious gesture). It more than likely had no reference to me or my presentation. I was the one who was worried about bording people

Catastrophizing suggests that when you turn everything into a catastrophe, always expecting the worst-case scenario.
Example: My son has a cold that's probably going to turn into pneumonia - my God, he's going to die!
Distorted Perception: Colds always lead to pneumonia anad, ultimately, death
Rational Comeback: My son is strong and healthy, and uses good judgment. If his cold gets any worse, he'll see a doctor. He'll get antibiotics if he needs them. In this day and age, young healthy people just don't die from colds or pneumonia

Personalization is distorted thinking on how you interpret everything around you in ways that reflect on you and, often, your self-worth. Personalization is a double-edged sword, in that sometimes it makes you feel great - as when everyon you deal with in the course of a day is kind and cheerful, and you take this as a sign of your winning personality and charm. But the grumpy person you encounter, who isn't won over by your brightest smile, can convince you that you've lost your looks, your personality has gone flat, and you've just been fooling yourself all these years.
Example: If I'd done a better job as a mother, my daughter wouldn't be depressed
Distorted Perception: I should be able to control my daughter's happiness or unhappiness
Rational Comeback: No one - not even a parent- can determine whether another individual is happy or unhappy. My daughter's depression is determined by many factors, and unfortunately most of these are beyond my control

Control Fallacies entails feeling either that the events in your life are totally controlled by a force outside of yourself or that you are responsible for everything.
Example: What's the use of looking for work in my field? Everyone who's any good already has a job
Distorted Perception: No one who's competent ever has to look for a job; the work just magically appears
Rational Comeback: I've got to play an active role in getting work - even geniuses have to pound the pavement sometimes and knock on doors. People aren't necessarily thinking about me (and passing me over) when they hand out jobs to other freelancers. I've got to remind all my contacts in the field that I'm available

Fallacy of Fairness is used when you fall into the trap of judging people's actions by rules that you've concocted about what is and what isn't fair. The trouble is that in personal interactions at least, everyone has different ideas about fairness, so you're bound to wind up feeling hurt, slighted, or wronged.
Example: If my husband really cared about my wellness, he'd take on more responsibility with the house and kids
Distorted Perception: How much my husband cares about my wellness is defined by the amount of housework he takes on
Rational Comeback: My husband does a lot of other things that show how much he cares about my wellness: he's very attentive and tender toward me, he reads to me in bed, he does all the yardwork, takes care of the dogs, and works very hard at his job (which pays my doctors' bills. I can talk to him about feeling overburdened by the housework and all the demands the kids make on me. If we work together, we might find some solutions

Emotional Reasoning is the mistaken belief that everything you feel must be true.
Example: I feel stupid, therefore I must be stupid
Distorted Perception: My subjective feelings always reflect reality
Rational Comeback: My opinions about myself change all the time, often depending on my mood. No one is just smart or just stupid. I probably make poor choices or use poor judgment sometiems, but that's just part of being human. Most people would probably say that I'm pretty intelligent

Fallacy of Change assumes that other people will change to suit you if you pressure them enough. The illusion is that your happiness depends on bringing about these changes. Co-dependent behavior, which you may have read about in other contexts, relieves heavily on this fallacy.
Example: If my father would only start going to AA meetings, we could make another attempt at having a decent relationship
Distorted Perception: The quality of my relationship with my father depends on whether or not he goes to AA meetings
Rational Comeback: I have no control over whether or not Dad goes to AA meetings. The only part of our relationship that I can control has to do with my own thoughts and feelings and actions. To the extent that I can change these, I can change our relationship

Global Labeling makes a broad judgment based on very little evidence.
Example: One of the mangos I bought at that store turned out to be rotten, therefore the store has rotten produce and I'm never going back there
Distorted Perception: It's accurate to judge the quality fo this store's merchandise on the basis of one piece of fruit
Rational Comeback: Just because I got one bad mango does not mean that the store as a whole is no good. It just means that they had some rotten mangos. (If I go back and tell them, maybe they'll give me a refund - or a better mango!)

Blaming is a very common distortion and is just what it sounds like: bad things that happen are someone's fault, either yours or someone' elses.
Example: I'm depressed because my family of origin was completely dysfunctional
Distorted Perception: Dysfunctional families always cause people to suffer from depression when they grow up
Rational Comeback: It's true that I grew up in a dysfunctional family; but my depression has also involved a lot of other factors, including choices I've made and continue to make

Shoulds entail operating from a rigid set of indisputable rules and how everyone, including yourself, should act.
Example: I should never feel jealous
Distorted Perception: My behavior should always conform to a rigid set of rules
Rational Comeback: I'm as subeject to as wide a range of emotions as any other human being. Jealousy is one of these emotions.

Being Right involves continually needing to justify your point of view or wy of behaving. The need to be right can make it impossible for you to really listen when someone offers a new perspective or a conflicting point of view. For an example, consider the following dialogue:
Daughter: I felt so sad after our visit. I felt like you were completely indifferent to me when I arrived and when I left, even though it had been six months since we'd seen each other
Mother: I swear to God, no matter what I do, it's never right and it's never enough. All my friends think I'm jsut great - it's my kids who complain about me
Daughter: I cried as I drove away. I kept saying to myself that I'm a good person and a lovable person, even though you don't seem to think so
Mother: I don't know what you want from me, Susan. I've tried everything, and all I get is criticism. We used to hve a great relationship before you were married. I don't know what happened
Daughter: Mom, I've been married for 17 years
Distorted Perception: (Mother) It's impossible that I'm at fault

Heaven's Reward Fallacy could be called the martyr's fallacy. You believe that if you always do the right thing, you will eventually be rewarded (even if doing the right thing, means ignoring your own needs).
Example: My career comes second after my kids. Actually, I'm ready to postpone my career for 20 years, if need be, to give my children the attention they need. I may be messed up; but if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to make sure that my daughter has good self-esteem
Distoted Perception: My self-sacrifice will make my children into happy individuals and I will be proved in the end to be a good mother
Rational Comeback: How can my daughter possibly end up with good self-esteem when she has me for a role model? I'm the family doormat! I love my kids, but it's a waste to put a successful career on hold for 20 years. I can work out a compromise between my needs and theirs - and we'll all be happier as a result! (p.186-202)