[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-204177-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":73,"doc-detail-204177-en":122},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":66,"head_meta":68,"extra_data":70,"updated_unix":72},105,"en","evaluating-thoughts-socratic-questioning-and-guided-discovery-in-cbt","Evaluating Thoughts - Socratic Questioning and Guided Discovery in CBT","","CBT therapists evaluating thoughts should avoid becoming overly persuasive, because clients may not share the same familiarity with discussion patterns and can become more resistant when persuasion feels excessive. Guided discovery is presented as a therapeutic alternative, using Socratic questions to help clients explore their statements, consider multiple angles, and tolerate initial confusion. Over time, apparent cognitive dissonance can resolve into higher-level understanding that feels more meaningful. A structured four-stage process supports this unfolding inquiry, with examples to apply new information to core thoughts.",{"@graph":14,"@context":65},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/evaluating-thoughts-socratic-questioning-and-guided-discovery-in-cbt/204177/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/evaluating-thoughts-socratic-questioning-and-guided-discovery-in-cbt/204177.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mabel","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-06","2026-09-05",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",10,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How should Socratic questions be used to expand a client’s thinking?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"They should be used in an unfolding way to broaden the client’s horizons, following a four-stage process: uncover information outside current awareness, listen and reflect empathically, provide frequent summaries, and ask synthesising questions to apply new information to the client’s original thought.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":67,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":69,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":71,"site_id":7},204177,1788571494,{"code":4,"msg":74,"data":75},"success",[76,80,84,88,93,98,102,107,112,115,118],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":77,"show_sort_weight":78,"slug":79},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":81,"show_sort_weight":82,"slug":83},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":89,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":94,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":99,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},7,40,"healthcare",{"id":103,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":104,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":106},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":108,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":113,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":114},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":117},"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":121},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":74,"data":123},{"doc_id":71,"user_id":124,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":125,"doc_module":4,"category_id":99,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":126,"file_id":127,"file_url":128,"file_type":129,"file_size":130,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":131,"language":132,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":133,"faqs":134,"seo_title":135,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":72,"read_time":136},7971474920318,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/74000ee537e6b0ca360?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1788430171632181674","Evaluating thoughts: Socratic questioning and guided discovery  \nIt can be tempting for CBT therapists to become overly persuasive. As you practice CBT regularly, certain patterns of discussion of NATs will start to become familiar to you. It is unlikely that clients will be as familiar with the form of these discussions as you are. CB therapists must therefore put a brake on the tendency to use this knowledge to overpower clients. Firstly, only the client can really know what will prove most persuasive to him, and, secondly,there is evidence that when clients begin to see their therapists as being too persuasive, they become much more resistant to what the therapist is saying (Heesacker & Meija-Millan, 1996) . It is preferable to use guided discovery rather than persuasion when trying to help a client to open out her thinking. Guided discovery involves asking questions that invite the client to explore what she is saying and then to look at things from different angles and look‘outside the box ’ for additional information. These questions are Socratic because they are similar in intent to Socratic Dialogue. Socrates was an Athenian philosopher who displayed a seemingly endless delight in getting people to examine the assumptions of their arguments. He hardly ever expressed his own opinions but asked questions that made his debating partners think more deeply. These debates often ended in what has been called aporia3 – a kind of confusion resulting from the abandonment of an old idea without entirely being sure of what to replace it with. This state of mind has some similarity with the modern psychological concept of cognitive dissonance, when ideas or facts seem incompatible and irresolvable. Cognitive dissonance theorists have considered that such dissonance produces the necessary discomfort that often precedes change, that is, the discomfort motivates us to think out there solution. Therapists should learn not to be too alarmed when initial cognitive interventions lead to apparent confusion. Over time confusion may result in higher-level resolution. This ‘harder won’ change may prove more meaningful and therapeutic to clients.  \n􀁸 What do you mean when you say x?  \n􀁸 What is the evidence that x is true? What is the evidence against x being true?  \n􀁸 What might be the worst that could happen?  \n􀁸 What leads you to think that might happen?  \n􀁸 And if that happened, what then?  \n􀁸 If it did happen, what would you do? How would you cope?  \n􀁸 Have you been in similar situations in the past? How did you cope then?  \n􀁸 How does thinking that make you feel?  \n􀁸 Are you thinking in a biased way? (See Figure 1.2) e.g. are you predicting the future or mind reading?  \n􀁸 Are you paying attention only to one aspect? What if you looked at it from a different angle?  \n􀁸 What would you say to a friend who kept on saying x to herself (e.g. ‘I’m stupid ’;‘I’m terrible ’)?  \n􀁸 How would that work in your body?  \n􀁸 Is there an alternative explanation?  \n􀁸 Is there any other way of seeing the situation?  \n􀁸 What are the advantages and disadvantages of thinking that?  \n􀁸 Is it helpful, or unhelpful?  \n􀁸 What would it mean to you to see things differently?  \n􀁸 Are you making decisions based on your feelings, or is reality telling you something different?  \n􀁸 What might you tell a friend to do in this situation?  \n􀁸 What would your friend say to you?  \n􀁸 Is there something else you could say to yourself that might be more helpful?  \n􀁸 What do you think you could change to make things better for you?  \n􀁸 How would you like things to be different?  \n􀁸 What would you like to do instead?  \n􀁸 What would have to happen to make that possible?  \nFIGURE 4.2 Socratic questions  \nIt is worth having a list of Socratic questions on hand for both therapist and client (see Figure 4.2) . It is important that Socratic questions are used in an unfolding way in order to help the client expand her horizons. Padesky (1993, 2004a, 2004b) has identified a four-stage  \npr","cbCaikJud0vQ3rEs","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikJud0vQ3rEs","pdf",333275,23,"English","# Evaluating Thoughts - Guided Discovery Over Persuasion\n## Why therapists should limit persuasion\n## What makes questions Socratic\n## Guided discovery sequence and four stages\n## Example dialogue using Socratic questions\n## Figure 4.2 Socratic questions - list of prompts","[{\"question\":\"How should Socratic questions be used to expand a client’s thinking?\",\"answer\":\"They should be used in an unfolding way to broaden the client’s horizons, following a four-stage process: uncover information outside current awareness, listen and reflect empathically, provide frequent summaries, and ask synthesising questions to apply new information to the client’s original thought.\"}]","Evaluating Thoughts - Socratic Questioning and Guided Discovery in CBT | PDF",58]