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Thoughts ≠ Facts

Educational resource

A short reminder that a thought can be important and emotionally convincing without automatically being a complete description of reality.

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A thought can be noticed and examined without being treated as direct observation.

Try the card

  1. Write one thought that has been on your mind.
  2. Separate what you directly know from what you are interpreting, predicting, or assuming.
  3. Ask what evidence supports the interpretation.
  4. Ask what evidence or context might complicate it.

The aim is not to label the thought “wrong.” It is to make room for evidence and alternative explanations before acting on it.

Go deeper

See Thought vs fact: separating observation from interpretation.

Source and scope

Source record: card-21 in the public MetalHatsCats CBT Toolkit v0.1.0.

This reflection prompt is not a diagnostic test and does not determine whether a thought is objectively true or false.

Continue from here

Choose the next useful step.

LearnThought vs factOpen the related educational explanation.TryChallenge your thoughtsContinue with an evidence-checking card.