Socratic Questioning CBT+ 4
thought. New thoughts might include, “I have some positive qualities,” “I can work on being
a good person.”
Example 2: “The thought ‘My child has lost her innocence and had her childhood taken
away by the abuse’ is understandably causing you pain as a parent. Let’s make a list of what
are signs that a child is innocent and enjoying their childhood.” Then explore whether their
child is showing any of these signs. Frequently parents will be overlooking signs of their
child’s resilience or potential for recovery.
Example 3: “You said you have no friends and no one would like you anyway. Let’s come up
with a definition of what a good friend is and what makes a person likeable.” Make a list of
the qualities of a good friend, review it and ask the client if they have any of these qualities,
or could work on them. Follow up by developing a more accurate or helpful thought, which
could be, “I have some good friend qualities.” “I can work on being a better friend.”
Example 4: “I can’t trust anyone.” List all the big and small ways people in the world can be
trusted, and then explore whether they know anyone who can be trusted even for the little
things, even some of the time. A more helpful replacement thought might be, “I can trust
some people for some things.”
Example 5: “I am unlovable.” Make a list of qualities that make someone lovable. Explore
whether the client has or could develop any of these. Generate a new thought that is more
hopeful or constructive such as “There are some things about me that some people would
love”.
□ Responsibility Pie
This technique is used for self-blame, usually in the context of a traumatic event. The idea is
to use the metaphor of a pie to uncover and change any unhelpful attributions of blame.
One way to do this is described in steps below.
1. Ask your client to make a list of everyone or everything that has some responsibility for
what happened.
2. Then draw a pie and ask your client to divide the pie into pieces, showing by size of
piece that has the most responsibility for what happened.
3. Next ask questions to explore whether other people or things not listed might also carry
some responsibility. Add them to the list.
4. Use questions to understand their reasoning for dividing the pie the way they did. (E.g.,
“Why did you give your mom such a large piece of pie?”) Use other Socratic techniques
to challenge unhelpful or faulty reasoning. (E.g., “You’re saying your mom SHOULD have
known her boyfriend was abusing you. Can you think of any reasons why she didn’t
figure it out?”)
5. Once you feel the client has come to a more accurate and adaptive understanding of
responsibility, and you have helped them re-think any faulty reasoning, and they have
included all responsible parties, draw a new pie and ask them to divide it again.