1. Outsmart Your Stinking Thinking

2. Review What did we talk about in our last class?
What happens to our brain when we experience threats?
What happens in an amygdala hijack?
What are some of the techniques we can use to regain our “lids”?

3. Assignment Check-In Refer to your assignment worksheet on emotions.
Did you catch yourself in the middle of a hijack?
What strategies were most helpful to you?
New strategies?
What surprised you?

4. Taking it Up A Notch
Not just strong emotions we need to watch out for!
Our thinking can get us into trouble

5. Beliefs About Ourselves The world What we can expect from the world
What the world expects of us
These thoughts can be about good things we want in our life
But – we are so used to looking for threats - a lot of our thoughts can tend to be negative.

6. It’s a Habit!
These thoughts aren’t real – they are just frequently used neural pathways in our brain.

7. Types of Stinking Thinking
All or Nothing
Over-generalization
Mental Filter
Discounting the positive
Jumping to Conclusions
Magnification
Emotional Reasoning
Should Statements
Labeling
Personalization

8. Practice Identifying ST
Come up with an example for each of the 10 types of stinking thinking:
All or Nothing
Over-generalization
Mental Filter
Discounting the positive
Jumping to Conclusions
Magnification
Emotional Reasoning
Should Statements
Labeling
Personalization

9. Strategies for Shifting Your Stinking Thinking
Name Your Emotion
Practice a Growth Mindset
Get a Reality Check
Ask for a Re-do – restate your thought
Support Your Friends

10. Apply Your Strategies
Apply your strategies to your stinking thinking examples.
Come up with a more empowering thought

11. Homework assignment Watch for stinking thinking
Track your stinking thinking on this worksheet
Note which category of stinking thinking you had
Then, note which strategy you used to overcome your stinking thinking
REMEMBER: Stinking thinking can seem real. Even if you think it’s true, if it sounds like one of these categories, assume it’s not true.