Focus on core irrational beliefs

Core irrational beliefs are those which account for a significant proportion of your clients’ disturbance and which explain why your clients disturb themselves in a variety of different settings. Core irrational beliefs tend to be general rather than specific and can best be identified after you have worked with clients on identifying their specific irrational beliefs. An example of a core irrational belief might be: ‘I must be in control in significant areas of my life. If I lose control, it would be awful and reveal something rotten about me.’