Changing Your Anxious Thoughts and Expectations
123To further illustrate the process of examining the evidence, here is an example of a 
discussion between Stephen and his therapist demonstrating how to ﬁrst identify anxious 
beliefs and then challenge those beliefs based on your past experiences.
Therapist:   What are you afraid will happen if you attend your company picnic next 
week?
Stephen:    I am nervous that I won’t be able to come up with anything to say to anyone. 
Everyone else will be talking about their children. I’m not in a relationship, 
and I have no kids, so I will have nothing in common with any of them.
Therapist:   How sure are you that you will have nothing to say?
Stephen:   Probably about 90 percent.
Therapist:   What that means is that nine out of ten times that you attend an event such 
as this one, you have nothing to say. Is this really true? What happened at 
last year’s company picnic?
Stephen:    When I ﬁrst arrived, it was difﬁcult. I stood off to the side and didn’t say 
much to others. After a while, people started to include me in their conver -
sations and it got easier. I think it was especially difﬁcult last year because I 
had just started at the company and didn’t know anyone very well.
Therapist:  Were you able to think of things to say?
Stephen:    At ﬁrst, I struggled. I think it was harder for me than it was for the others, 
but I was able to think of a few things to talk about, especially later in the 
afternoon.
Therapist:   Did everyone at last year’s picnic bring a partner or spouse? Did they all talk 
about their children?