Cognitive Restructuring is just a fancy way to say Think Differently. By learning to consciously control the direction of your thoughts and to analyze your thoughts before acting on them, some psychologists say that the anger, depression and anxiety issues that plague so many in this society can be reduced or eliminated.

There are several ways to participate in cognitive restructuring. It is generally better to work with a professional either in private practice or in a support group setting. While there are many books that cover cognitive restructuring, they should be mainly used for more insight into the therapy rather than a do-it-yourself manual.

If you struggle with anger - Cognitive Restructuring teaches you to put yourself in the other person's shoes. Is that person who cut you off really a jerk who deserves to have his car rammed into? Or maybe they have a sick child at home and are really worried about it? Have you ever cut someone off unintentionally or because something else was on your mind? It is also important to consider that anger usually does more harm to the angry person than it does to the target of the anger. Being angry really accomplishes very little and is most often a symptom of a deeper emotion and not really anger at all. By learning to dig deep and seek for the reason under the anger, a person undergoing cognitive restructuring can learn how to deal with the anger than comes up in a productive, proactive way rather than a destructive, reactive way.

If you struggle with depression - Depression can be caused by many factors and it would be irresponsible to imply that just thinking differently could be enough to eliminate depression. However, when combined with other forms of therapy, cognitive restructuring can help the depressed person work to change the negative thoughts that run through their mind. One particular cognitive restructuring technique used with depression is called "reframing". This activity requires the depressed person to pay close attention to their thoughts and when a negative thought arises, the thought has to be changed in such a way that it becomes positive or at least neutral.

If you struggle with anxiety - Anxiety is dealt with very much like depression since both issues revolve around the exaggerated and negative thought patterns of the patient. Anxious people have a negative and highly critical internal dialogue that virtually paralyzes them throughout their day. Cognitive restructuring teaches people suffering from anxiety to challenge the negative messages that they hear in their heads. By rationalizing through the inner conversation, most anxious people will find no facts to support the criticism they are giving themselves. Also, as with depression, anxious individuals should use cognitive restructuring along with other therapy for the best results.