Having each cognitive distortion on its own simple card makes it easier to introduce CBT thinking traps without overwhelming the person using them. The cards use clear language, small illustrations, everyday examples and a short “try asking” prompt, so they can support conversations with teenagers, older children, parents, carers and adults who are learning to notice patterns in their thinking.
The pack is presented as “32 common thinking traps cards” and the visible pages include cards for all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophising, fortune telling, jumping to conclusions, mental filter, discounting the positive, magnifying problems, minimising strengths, mind reading, personalisation, unfair comparison and blaming others. Each card follows a consistent structure: the name of the thinking pattern, a short definition, a relatable example and a question to help challenge or reframe the thought.
The examples are practical and recognisable, such as “I made one mistake. I am terrible at this,” “They did not reply. They must be upset with me,” and “The meeting went badly. It must be my fault.” The prompts encourage gentle reflection, including questions such as “Is there a middle ground I am not seeing?”, “What evidence do I actually have?” and “What other factors might explain this?”
Practitioners could use the cards in one-to-one CBT sessions, social work visits, school wellbeing work, counselling, mentoring, family support, group activities or training. They may be useful for helping someone identify a thinking trap in the moment, choose a more balanced question, or compare several patterns that often appear together, such as catastrophising and fortune telling.
The visual style makes the content accessible for people who prefer something less text-heavy than a formal worksheet. It could also be printed, cut into cards, used as discussion prompts, placed on a table for sorting activities, or kept as a quick reference during emotional regulation and thought-challenging work. The named author is Edita Stiborova.
