The most common interpretation of "gratitude trap" describes a self-oriented thought process involving feelings of guilt, shame, or frustration related to one’s expectations of how things "should" be.
[3]Psychologist Ellen Kenner uses the term "gratitude trap" more narrowly to describe irrational feelings of indebtedness in interpersonal relationships:The phrase "gratitude trap" describes an elusive ugliness in many relationships, a deceptive "kindness," the main purpose of which is to make others feel indebted.
In the mid-1990s, psychiatrists Aaron T. Beck and David Burns became the first to study cognitive distortions in depth, and portions of their research describe thought patterns substantially similar to gratitude traps.
[5] Gratitude traps also overlap somewhat with the phenomenon of "musterbation," a term coined by psychotherapist and psychologist Albert Ellis to describe self-imposed expectations that are unrealistic or otherwise unhealthy.
Perpetua Neo, DClinPsy, writes: "Like most well-intentioned ways of life, gratitude must be used with discernment, especially when it stops us from seeing a situation realistically.
Because gratitude traps are a form of irrational thinking, effective treatment methods tend to emphasize the importance of encouraging the patient to recognize, challenge, and eventually correct their own false beliefs or assumptions.