Addiction Overview 3 -Understanding the Role of Attributions and Perceptions in Cognitive Errors

Co-Occurring Disorders Overview 3
Attributions
Part of the Co-Occurring Disorders Recovery Coaching Series
Recovery & Resilience International in partnership with AllCEUs.com Co-
Occurring Disorders Recovery Coaching Curriculum

Objectives
 Define attributions
 Learn about the following qualities of attributions
and how they could increase or reduce stress
 Global/Specific
 Internal/External
 Stable/Changeable
 Explore ways of changing attributions to improve
health and wellness
Recovery & Resilience International in partnership with AllCEUs.com
Co-Occurring Disorders Recovery Coaching Curriculum

Why I Care/How It Impacts Recovery
 Attributions that reduce stress can
 Increase a sense of control and empowerment
 Reduce energy wasted on things that cannot or do not
need to be changed
 Improve outlook and mood, thus increasing motivation
to do the hard work of recovery.

What are Attributions
 Attributions are those characteristics or meanings
we assign to our experiences
 If someone is walking and trips, do you
Assume they are clumsy
Assume there was a crack in the sidewalk
 You see a person on the street who is homeless
What do you assume about them?
 You see a person who got out of a 3-year old Mercedes
using food stamps.
What do you assume?

What are Your Negative Attributions
 Pay attention to what you say and lock in on
 When watching the news
 At work
 When you are driving
 When watching television
 When on social media

Global/Specific Attributions
 Global Attributions
 Usually start out with “All” “Every” “I am” “You are”
 Positive global attributions can be good, as long as they
are accurate
 Negative global attributions make you want to avoid
whatever it is
 Examples
I am stupid
You are lazy
He always relapses
She can never be trusted

 Interventions
 What global attributions would you like to start using
(Overall) I am….
(Overall) People are…
(Overall) My friends are…
(Overall) Life is…
(Overall) Recovery is…
 For your negative global attributions
Look for exceptions
If there are no exceptions, decide whether it is worth
your energy

 Specific attributions
 Focus on a behavior or specific event
 Contain a conditional statement
I suck at math
When I am around people I don’t know, I feel shy
 Specific attributions can be a problem if you fail to
identify patterns
Relationships
Relapse traps
 Take away, most things have global and specific
attributions. (Forest vs. Trees)

Internal/External Attributions
 Internal attributions means you believe whatever
happens is a direct result of you
 It is my fault that…
 Because of me…
 Interventions
 Ask yourself
What part of this is due to me?
What parts of this can I control?
What parts of this do I have to accept

Internal/External Attributions
 External attributions assert that whatever
happened was totally beyond your control or
influence
 My relapse hit me from out of the blue
 If ______ then I wouldn’t have to….
 Interventions
 Ask yourself
What parts of this can I control?
What parts of this do I have to accept?
What are different choices I can make?

Stable/Changeable Attributions
 Stable attributions mean something is perceived
as being always true
 These use extreme words like “always” “never” “no
matter what”
 Positive stable attributions are wonderful
Pink and purple sunrises always make me happy
Increase things in your life that “always” make you
happy.
 Negative stable attributions
Add extra stress and can lead you to overlook good things
Look for exceptions

Stable/Changeable Attributions
 Changeable attributions mean that you believe
you can change something
 These motivate you to do something
 They are often time limited “I was…” “I can…”
If I work hard I can…
I was depressed, but, with therapy, can start feeling
better.
 Interventions
For things you are unhappy about, identify what is
changeable
Even good things can go bad. Work on making sure you
keep the good things

Apply It
 Identify 3 ways you could have used this information
in the past week.
 What was the situation?
 What were your attributions and perceptions?
 How effective was that for you?
 If you would have had this new information, how might
you have viewed the situation differently?
 How would that have changed the outcome?
 How can you start integrating this knowledge into your
routine

Summary
 Attributions color how we perceive things
 Neither extreme is a panacea. It is about balance
 Global/Specific
 Internal/External
 Stable/Changeable

Addiction Overview 3 -Understanding the Role of Attributions and Perceptions in Cognitive Errors

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Addiction Overview 3 -Understanding the Role of Attributions and Perceptions in Cognitive Errors