What is an irrational belief?
In my training sessions, I have come across people who have some thoughts which might not be helping them really. I would not say that they are rigid or irrational but certainly it does not help them to adapt. I often come across people who think that we must never say ‘no’ to our boss because ‘the boss is powerful (especially during performance appraisal)’. This leads to non-assertive behaviour (passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive). On probing, I find that the though often comes from several irrational beliefs about self, environment and life. Most of us have heard of the importance of substituting our irrational beliefs with rational ones. The logic is that situations as such do not lead to emotions and behaviour but it is the belief about that situation which makes us respond in a certain way. I personally believe that any thought that makes us maladaptive in a situation is irrational; however I am still unsure whether any particular belief can be termed completely and permanent
