‘There’s one thing I don’t get,’ the Boxer said.
He folded his hairy arms again, his generous belly swelling over his lap. From the way he was jutting his chin forwards and scoping out the rest of the group, making certain they were listening to him, Sam sensed he was trying to position himself in an alpha role.
‘Go ahead,’ Sam said.
‘These negative thoughts you’re talking about.’
‘Negative automatic thoughts.’
‘Right. You said some of them could be good for us? If there was a threat to us, say? Like with the hot stove.’
Sam nodded. ‘They could be, yes.’
‘OK. Then how can you tell? What I mean is, how do you know when a threat is something you’re imagining and when it’s real?’