Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring is a technique that is commonly taught to athletes by sport psychologists in which self-defeating thoughts and negative self-statements are identified and substituted with positive, adaptive self-statements, and coping thoughts. Cognitive restructuring was originally developed in clinical settings and has since been used by practitioners in various contexts (including sport) to address a range of issues related to performance, social anxiety, maladaptive perfectionism, aggressive behavior, depression, and low self-esteem.

Generally speaking, cognitive restructuring has been examined as part of a package of mental interventions. These typically include the setting of effective goals, visualization, relaxation strategies, and self-talk. Invariably, psychological skills packages are associated with improved athletic and sporting performance. For instance, the positive effects associated with psychological skills packages have been reported in sports as diverse as baseball, basketball, boxing, figure skating, golf, gymnastics, karate, skiing, tennis, and volleyball. Pertinently, systematic reviews of the effects of psychological skills on performance indicate that cognitive restructuring interventions often have large positive effects on performance, suggesting these interventions are particularly effective. As yet, few studies have involved direct tests of the mechanisms that might account for the positive performance effects associated with cognitive restructuring. However, there is a large body of evidence indicating that cognitive restructuring is associated with improvements in a variety of psychological variables such as increased self efficacy, reduced cognitive and somatic anxiety, an increased ability to cope, as well as increased effort and motivation to succeed. As a word of caution, research suggests that the skills required to deliver cognitive restructuring interventions require many hours of training to master. Practitioners considering using cognitive restructuring should bear this in mind prior to delivering such interventions.

Cognitive restructuring is often described as a technique in its own right. In this way, cognitive restructuring involves four sequential steps: (1) identifying the individual’s negative thoughts or self-statements during problematic situations, (2) identifying coping self-statements and rehearsing them, (3) replacing negative self-defeating statements with coping self-statements, and (4) identifying and rehearsing positively reinforcing self-statements. However, it is worth noting that cognitive restructuring is more commonly used within a rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) or a cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) framework.

Albert Ellis developed REBT in the 1950s. At its core, REBT attempts to apply rationality and logic to a person’s beliefs. Rational beliefs, which are thought to be at the core of psychological health, are flexible, consistent with reality, logical, and self-enhancing. Irrational beliefs, which are thought to be at the core of psychological disturbance, are rigid, inconsistent with reality, illogical, and self-defeating. In the context of sport, irrational beliefs often underlie much of the stress and resulting self-defeating thoughts and feelings experienced by athletes prior to or during athletic performance. REBT teaches that it is the irrational beliefs and thinking, and not the event or circumstance that contributed to the irrational beliefs, that lead to negative emotions. Sport psychology practitioners can help athletes reduce their self-caused negative emotions by enabling them to identify and dispute their irrational beliefs via a process known as ABCD cognitive restructuring:

A: Athletes are asked to keep a diary of daily events that generate negative emotions. The athlete is asked to describe the facts of the events as they occurred.

B: The athlete is to record in the diary the exact content of the dysfunctional self-talk (said out loud or silently in private) that followed the activating events.

C: The athlete then records the resulting emotional or behavioral responses.

D: After completing the ABC steps across a designated number of days, the final step requires the athlete to identify which aspects of the self-talk are irrational or distorted and substitute more rational and productive thoughts in their place.

This process is practiced repeatedly until the substituted rational statement is internalized.

Cognitive-behavioral therapies are often an amalgamation of cognitive and behavioral procedures. While some treatments may emphasize cognitive more than behavioral techniques, and vice versa, these interventions typically share an appreciation for basic learning principles and the role that cognitions play in human behavior and affective experience. When cognitive restructuring is used within a CBT framework it is often considered a discrete part of a wider intervention. This is because cognitive-behavioral therapies are more directive, educational, and future focused than traditional psychotherapies. Cognitive restructuring is one of the skills taught to the client as part of the therapy but it is often accompanied by other cognitive-behavioral techniques like relaxation training.

References:

Blagys, M. D., & Hilsenroth, M. J. (2002). Distinctive activities of cognitive-behavioral therapy: A review of the comparative psychotherapy process literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 22, 671–706.
Greenspan, M. J., & Feltz, D. L. (1989). Psychological interventions with athletes in competitive situations: A review. The Sport Psychologist, 3, 219–236.
Haney, C. J. (2004). Stress-management interventions for female athletes: Relaxation and cognitive restructuring. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 35, 109–118.
Zinsser, N., Bunker, L., & Williams, J. M. (2010). Cognitive techniques for building confidence and enhancing performance. In J. M. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (6th ed., pp. 305–335). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

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