The First One-on-One

≈ 6 min

Read the following account carefully. Your task is to identify (a) whether it contains a cognitive distortion from the menu below, and if so which one, and (b) the single phrase that most clearly signals it. This is a puzzle — the speaker is a fictional, invented person, not a real patient or client. This is not therapy or advice.

The scene

A conference room where a new manager holds their first individual check-in with a direct report

In the differential

Magnification / minimisation
Mental filtering
Fortune-telling
Emotional reasoning
Overgeneralisation
No distortion — a reasonable reaction

Play today’s Distortion.

This case first aired on August 21, 2026. A fresh distortion runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.

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