# Socratic Reasoning Improves Positive Text Rewriting

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.03029 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.03029/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Reasoning benchmarks and evaluation, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning.
- Builds on 7 of its 75 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 5 Mar 2024.

## Placed in

- LLM reasoning / [Reasoning benchmarks and evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/lr/reasoning-benchmarks-and-evaluation/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [GPT-4 Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08774/) (2023)
- [Llama 2: Open Foundation and Fine-Tuned Chat Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.09288/) (2023)
- [Mistral 7B](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.06825/) (2023)
- [The Pile: An 800GB Dataset of Diverse Text for Language Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.00027/) (2020)
- [Empowering Psychotherapy with Large Language Models: Cognitive Distortion Detection through Diagnosis of Thought Prompting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.07146/) (2023)
- [Dissecting Human and LLM Preferences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.11296/) (2024)
- [Studying Positive Speech on Twitter](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1702.08866/) (2017)

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [MIRROR: Multimodal Cognitive Reframing Therapy for Rolling with Resistance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.13211/) (2025)
- [Crisp: Cognitive Restructuring of Negative Thoughts through Multi-turn Supportive Dialogues](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.17238/) (2025)
- [Tailored Emotional LLM-Supporter: Enhancing Cultural Sensitivity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.07902/) (2025)
- [Exploratory Study into Relations between Cognitive Distortions and Emotional Appraisals](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.15979/) (2025)
- [Trace-of-Thought Prompting: Investigating Prompt-Based Knowledge Distillation Through Question Decomposition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.20946/) (2025)
- [A New Query Expansion Approach via Agent-Mediated Dialogic Inquiry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.08557/) (2025)
- [Incongruent Positivity: When Miscalibrated Positivity Undermines Online Supportive Conversations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.10184/) (2025)
- [Uncertainty-Aware Generation and Decision-Making Under Ambiguity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.30578/) (2026)
- [From Pattern Recognizers to Personalized Companions: A Survey of Large Language Models in Mental Health](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.25186/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Reframing a negative into a positive thought is at the crux of several cognitive approaches to mental health and psychotherapy that could be made more accessible by large language model-based solutions. Such reframing is typically non-trivial and requires multiple rationalization steps to uncover the underlying issue of a negative thought and transform it to be more positive. However, this rationalization process is currently neglected by both datasets and models which reframe thoughts in one step. In this work, we address this gap by augmenting open-source datasets for positive text rewriting with synthetically-generated Socratic rationales using a novel framework called textscSocraticReframe. SocraticReframe uses a sequence of question-answer pairs to rationalize the thought rewriting process. We show that such Socratic rationales significantly improve positive text rewriting for different open-source LLMs according to both automatic and human evaluations guided by criteria from psychotherapy research. We validate our framework and the synthetic rationalizations with expert judgements from domain experts and psychology students in an IRB-approved annotation study. Our findings highlight the potential of utilizing the synergy between LLM reasoning and established psychotherapy techniques to build assistive solutions for reframing negative thoughts.