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Skill library

Thinking pattern

Draft — not clinically reviewed yet

Personalization

Taking responsibility for outcomes outside your control — or assuming you caused others' reactions.

Source: Sokol & Fox (2019), The Comprehensive Clinician's Guide to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

For learning and reflection — not diagnosis or treatment. Willow isn't your therapist or crisis line. Based on Sokol & Fox (2019). In crisis? See crisis resources or findahelpline.com.

For learning only — not a treatment plan. For exposure, trauma, or medication questions, work with a clinician.

The pattern

Personalization assigns you undue blame:

  • "The team failed because of me."
  • "Their bad mood must be my fault."

Sometimes you did contribute — cognitive behavioral therapy asks for proportion, not zero self-accountability.

Pie chart technique

List all factors (timing, others' choices, context, luck). Assign rough percentages. Total responsibility rarely stays at 100% on one person.

Pair with

Thought record evidence step; all-or-nothing when blame is total.

Try it next

Describe a situation where you took all the blame — Willow will help widen the pie chart.

From the guide

  • List every factor that contributed and assign rough percentages — the math reveals you are not the entire cause.

    — Pie chart / responsibility; Sokol & Fox (2019), The Comprehensive Clinician's Guide to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

From the guide

We couldn't pull book excerpts right now. The summary above still follows the same source material.

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