Overgeneralization: The Thinking Trap Driving Toxic Shame (and How to Fix It)

Liz explains overgeneralization as a shame-induced cognitive distortion that hurts performance and identity by turning a single incident into a sweeping conclusion, often marked by absolute words like “always,” “never,” “all,” and “everybody,” or by nominalization (making a process into a fixed “thing,” e.g., “my marriage is sick”). She describes thinking traps as typically showing up as self put-downs, catastrophic future beliefs, or critical regret-based thoughts, and notes that clients begin with a root analysis using five assessments to understand thought patterns and identity incongruence. Liz links overgeneralization to pessimism, reactive assumptions, perfectionism, critical self-talk, double mindedness, and toxic shame spirals that restrict life through rigid, grandiose “rules” about happiness. The antidote she offers is a three-column technique: evidence for, evidence against, and alternative conclusions to build mindfulness and reduce absolutist judgments.

00:00 Thinking Traps Intro
00:51 Three Shame Categories
01:56 Defining Overgeneralization
03:12 Nominalization Explained
05:00 Common Examples
05:55 Pessimism And Perfectionism
06:59 Toxic Shame Spirals
09:49 Three Column Antidote
10:30 Mindfulness In Real Life
11:21 Practice And Wrap Up