technique is effective for identifying what deeper belief you hold about yourself that is anxious thoughts In cognitive behavioral therapy core beliefs are described as your most central thoughts about yourself and the meaning you ascribe to the normal difficulties we all face When a core belief is activated your brain switches into a mode in which you take in only information that supports the belief and disregard anything that may challenge it This traps you in a feedback loop of biased thoughts generated by that core belief When caught up in negative core beliefs it becomes difficult to think realistically about the events in your life Learning to identify and challenge our core beliefs means these flawed ideas no longer make decisions for us Negative core beliefs typically fall into two general beliefs associated with helplessness and beliefs associated with unlovability See if any of the examples below sound familiar to you Examples of Helpless Core Beliefs a failure Nothing I do will make a difference helpless inadequate weak Examples of Unlovable Core Beliefs unworthy bad unlikable unwanted not good enough The downward arrow technique helps you look beneath the surface of your anxious thoughts to see really driving