Cognitive Triad

The cognitive triad is a model developed by American psychiatrist Aaron Beck in 1976, describing negative thoughts brought on by depression. The triad’s components are negative views of the self (I’m worthless, I’m a failure), the world (the world is a terrible place, nobody loves me), and the future (It will always be like this, I’ll never be good at anything). Such beliefs become automatic, spontaneous core beliefs. Beck also believed negative thoughts combine to create feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, seeing a correlation between the severity and length of negative thoughts with the length and intensity of depression. Also see Self-Schemas and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)