This is correct, I use this method a lot in my work with the disabled. Often with clients that struggle with mental health, it’s important to redirect negative thoughts and feelings, but you have to do this without jumping to condescending or infantilising language.

The easiest way is to empathize with <negative thought or feeling> acknowledging it as worthy of the space it’s taking up and offering up something related that I might worry about. Then redirect with a similar subject, but framed in a way that gives more power over it. Maybe a news article that pointed out how <related thing> is being solved by someone, or overcome, or even simply made fun of.

If you can laugh at something for being ridiculous it has less power.

You don’t need to change their belief in <negative thought or feeling> you just need to redirect it and reframe it, they will then have a different mental relationship with it later, and over time change.