The ABCs

The ABC Model is a good way of understanding how we can help change our feelings and behaviour by challenging our thinking. It helps us uncover beliefs that are not helping us /contributing to the behaviour we are trying to change.

This exercise may be done in the group setting but can also be very useful for participants to look at between meetings.

1. When working with urges: To analyze a lapse/relapse or to develop coping statements for an anticipated lapse/relapse.

   In the event of a lapse, the question to ask is not "What made me do that", but rather, "How did I talk myself into it?" It is not the urge (A) that causes the lapse (C). It is our beliefs (B); our irrational self-talk.

2. With emotional upset:

   The ABC Model can also be used to work with emotional upset or frustrations that may occur at any point in the recovery journey. The ABCs allow us to discover our unhelpful beliefs which contribute to emotional upsets. Disputing helps us eliminate our irrational thinking so we can both feel better and do better. In SMART Recovery we teach that we feel the way we think; it's not unpleasant events that disturb us, it's the way we think of them. By changing our thinking, we change how we feel.

3. Identifying and Disputing Unhelpful Thinking.

   Disputing is a process of challenging the way we think about situations. It's about trying to look at thoughts more accurately. Disputing unhelpful thinking can help us make more informed decisions about thoughts instead of just acting on them. Balanced thinking leads to effective new beliefs.