Dispute Unhelpful Beliefs

Our beliefs can influence how we feel and what we do. At times, a belief can feel true while still being unhelpful, increasing guilt, hopelessness, distress, or urges to return to a behaviour we want to change. This tool provides a practical way to examine those beliefs and develop a more balanced response.

This tool helps you:

• Identify a belief that is increasing distress or making change harder.
• Notice patterns such as demands, overgeneralising, low frustration tolerance, making situations seem worse than they are, or attacking yourself.
• Ask fair and useful questions about whether the belief is accurate or helpful.
• Replace the original belief with an honest, balanced alternative that supports your goals.

Work through these three steps for each belief:

1. Write down the unhelpful belief. What thought is getting in your way?
2. Question the belief. Ask whether it is always true, whether you would say it to a friend, and whether there is another way to understand the situation.
3. Write a more helpful belief. Make it realistic rather than overly positive, while ensuring it is more balanced and supportive of your longer-term goals.

You might write, “I cannot cope with this without using,” then question whether that is always true and develop an alternative such as, “This is difficult, but I can cope with it and it may become easier.”

You can also ask yourself which unhelpful beliefs you return to most often, how they affect your emotions or behaviour, and what changes when you respond to a thought instead of immediately accepting it.