Cognitive Restructuring vs Reframing: Which Tool Helps You Challenge Negative Thoughts?
When you’re navigating stress, anxiety, depression, or change in your life, the way you talk to yourself matters! Cognitive Restructuring and reframing are tools you can learn in therapy that help you shift your mindset and your internal self-talk. While therese overlap in some ways, they’re different tools for different parts in the healing process.
This guide breaks down what each approach is, why both matter, and how to start using them to talk to yourself with more kindness and compassion.
Cognitive Restructuring vs Reframing: What are They?
What is Cognitive Restructuring?
Cognitive restructuring is a structured therapeutic technique used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The goal is to identify, challenge, and replace negative or unhelpful thoughts and thinking patterns with more accurate, balanced ones.
It works well when:
● Your thoughts feel rigid or absolute
● You’re stuck in “all-or-nothing” patterns
● Anxiety spirals easily
● You find yourself jumping to conclusions or assumptions
Cognitive restructuring is evidence-based and particularly helpful for people managing anxiety, depression, trauma responses, and chronic worry. It involves guided questions, worksheets, and thought-tracking that help you break down a thought and evaluate whether it’s actually true. I like to say it is like putting your thoughts on trial!
What is Cognitive Reframing?
Reframing is a more flexible, creative, and everyday approach to shifting perspective. It’s about being curious about our thoughts, and if there are other angles or perspectives we can bring in to help shift the way we are thinking. Rather than breaking a thought down for accuracy, reframing asks:
“Is there another way to look at this that feels more supportive, self-compassionate, or empowering?”
Reframing is less about searching for evidence that challenges the accuracy of your thinking and more about finding alternative perspectives to help you talk to yourself in a kinder, more compassionate way. It opens the door to alternative interpretations, ones that help reduce shame, soften self-judgment, and make space for more possibilities!
Reframing is especially helpful when:
● You’re caught in an emotional reaction
● You need a quick mindset shift
● The goal is to reduce harshness and negative self-talk through curiosity, not analyze facts
● You’re trying to build self-acceptance or shift long-held narratives
While restructuring is about accuracy, reframing is about perspective.
The Foundation: What are Cognitive Distortions?
Before you use either tool, it helps to know more about how to define your thinking patterns and give yourself language to better understand them. In CBT, these thinking patterns are often called cognitive distortions. They’re automatic, fast, and deeply influenced by identity, trauma, and the messages we absorbed growing up.
Common distortions include:
● Catastrophizing: Assuming the worst-case scenario
● All-or-Nothing Thinking: Seeing things as completely good or completely bad
● Mind Reading: Believing you know what others think (usually negatively)
● Emotional Reasoning: “I feel it, so it must be true.”
● Should Statements: Harsh, perfectionistic rules you “should” follow
It’s important to acknowledge that we all have unhelpful thinking patterns, and from time-to-time these are normal! However, if your internal voice and thought patterns are consistently rooted in cognitive distortions, you might find yourself being hard on yourself, struggling with negative self-talk, and experiencing anxiety, depression, and stress.
7 Tools Proven to Help
In CBT therapy, there are so many tools to help overcome. I like to remind folks that these are just tools and while CBT can help us examine our individual thoughts, it is important to also name how many of these thoughts are a product of captalisit and colonialist structures, rather than individual strain.
Either way, in therapy, we might use these tools:
Here are evidence-backed tools you can integrate from both cognitive restructuring and reframing:
Thought Records (Cognitive Restructuring)
Break down a triggering situation, identify automatic thoughts, challenge their accuracy, and build a balanced alternative.
Socratic Questioning (Cognitive Restructuring) Ask Guided Questions Like:
“What evidence do I have for this thought?”
“Is this a fact or an interpretation?”
“How would I talk to a friend experiencing this?”
Perspective-Taking (Reframing)
Consider multiple ways to interpret an event.
Example: “They didn’t text back because they’re mad at me” → “They might be overwhelmed or distracted.”Strength-Spotting Reframes
Identify the skills underneath your reactions.
“I overthink everything” → “My brain scans for patterns because I’ve survived a lot.”Values-Based Reframes
Link your thoughts to what actually matters to you.
“I’m failing because I need rest." → “Rest helps me show up aligned with my values.”Identity-Affirming Reframes
Particularly helpful for queer clients:
“I’m too much” → “I’ve had to shrink myself for safety; now I get to expand.”Behavioral Experiments (Restructuring + Reframing)
Test a belief in real life:
If you think “Everyone will judge me if I set a boundary,” try a small boundary and observe the outcome.
Mastering Cognitive Restructuring vs Reframing: Your Next Steps
1. Identify the Type of Thought You’re Having
Ask yourself:
Is this an automatic thought (the first thought that comes to mind)?
How does this thought impact how I feel and what I do? Thoughts → feelings → behaviors
2. Name the Cognitive Distortion
Awareness is the first interruption.
Even a simple “Oh, hi, catastrophizing” creates space between the thought and you.
3. Decide Your Goal: Do You Want:
Accuracy?
Compassion?
Regulation?
Perspective?
This tells you which tool to use.
4. Challenge or Reframe the Thought
Either break the thought down (restructuring) or shift how you interpret it (reframing). Keep the alternative thought realistic; your brain rejects anything too positive or unfamiliar.
5. Test It in Real Life
Choose one small behavior that aligns with your reframed or restructured thought. Your nervous system learns from experience more than insight.
6. Practice, Don’t Perfect
These skills build over time. Therapy can help guide and support you through these processes!
Ready to Build Your Mental Wellness Toolkit?
Whether you’re working to improve self-esteem, challenge automatic thoughts, or strengthen self-acceptance, understanding cognitive restructuring vs reframing gives you multiple pathways for healing. You don’t have to choose one or the other; most people use both depending on the moment, the emotion, and the level of depth they want to explore.
If you want support applying these tools in a structured, affirming space, consider therapy as a place to develop them with guidance.
