Stand it on its head
Sometimes the best way to expose the weakness of a negative thought is not to contradict it directly but to examine the opposite of the thought. This can be an especially productive strategy to adopt with dysfunctional assumptions.
Peter has OCD and a host of anxious thoughts about cleanliness and infection. He is standing at the kitchen sink having just washed up a chopping board when it occurs to him that it may not be entirely clean. He washes it again. And again. And again. Each time he does so his negative thoughts become stronger and his anxiety levels escalate. The thought that keeps playing through his head is this ...
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