11/28/2025
🧠 The Cognitive Triangle
Our thoughts, feelings (including body sensations), and behaviors are all connected.
When one shifts, it affects the others. Learning to notice this pattern is one of the first steps toward meaningful change.
How it works:
Thoughts: What you say to yourself about a situation.
Example: “I’m going to embarrass myself at this party.”
Feelings & Body Sensations: The emotions and physical reactions that follow.
Anxiety, self-doubt, racing heart, sweaty palms, nausea.
Behaviors: The action you take based on those thoughts and feelings.
Avoiding the party or leaving early.
Because the triangle is bidirectional, the cycle can start anywhere.
A racing heart might trigger the thought, “Something is wrong,” which can build into panic.
Each part of the triangle can feed the others — but it also means we can interrupt the cycle.
✨ Why it works:
The Cognitive Triangle helps you understand how your mind and body influence each other.
When you can identify the connection between thoughts → feelings → actions, you gain the ability to change the pattern instead of being pulled along by it.
🌿 How to use it:
Name the thought.
What did you tell yourself?
Notice the feeling or body sensation.
What emotion or physical reaction came next?
Identify the behavior.
What did you do because of that thought/feeling?
Change one piece of the triangle.
Challenge the thought, soothe the body, or choose a different action.
Changing just one part shifts the entire cycle.
Therapy can guide you through this process and help you build healthier, more supportive patterns. 💛 We are here for you!
