Uncovering Your Deeper Beliefs

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) describes three levels of cognition: automatic thoughts, assumptions, and core beliefs. While CBT therapists do not always need to target beliefs and assumptions, doing so can help support behavior change. The Uncovering Your Deeper Beliefs exercise is designed to help clients identify their underlying assumptions and core beliefs.

Levels of cognition

Beck’s cognitive model describes three levels of cognition (Beck, 2011):

1. At the top or ‘surface’ level are automatic thoughts. These thoughts arise automatically and involuntarily and can be internal statements or mental images.
   • Because of the speed at which they occur, automatic thoughts are often accepted uncritically, even when objectively inaccurate.
   • While people are usually aware of their emotional responses, they are generally less conscious of the thoughts and images associated with them.
   • Automatic thoughts are situation-specific, but are influenced by underlying assumptions that apply across situations (Greenberger & Padesky, 2016).
2. At the intermediate level are underlying assumptions, also known as intermediate

"The way we think is shaped by our underlying assumptions and the beliefs we hold about ourselves, other people, and how the world works. However, most people are often unaware of these underlying beliefs as they exist on a deeper level. Can we do an exercise to uncover some of your underlying beliefs? It could help us understand why you tend to think and react to situations in certain ways."

Step 1: explain what the task will involve

Beck (2011) recommends outlining what the exercise entails to prevent or minimize negative reactions:

• "In this exercise, we’ll assume that one of your automatic thoughts is true, even though we haven’t looked at evidence to see if it is. I’ll then ask you a series of questions to explore what that thought means to you. The questions might be a bit repetitive, but that will help us dig deeper."

Step 2: describe the situation 

Exploring underlying beliefs

• Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, experimental, and theoretic aspects. Harper and Row.
• Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. International Universities Press.
• Beck, A. T., & Beck, J. S. (1991). The personality belief questionnaire. , Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania: The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research.
• Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford Press.
• Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
• Burns, D. D. (1980). Feel good: The new mood therapy. United Kingdom: Penguin Books.
• Burns, D. D. (2020). Feeling great: The revolutionary new treatment for depression and anxiety. United States: PESI Publishing.
• Clark, D. A., & Beck, A. T. (2010). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: Science and practice. New York: Guilford Press.
• Dowd, E. T. (2002). History and recent developments in cognitive psychotherapy. In R. L. Leahy & E. T. Dowd (Eds.),