Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a therapeutic approach that aims to change our thought patterns, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. It involves identifying and changing unhelpful thinking patterns to promote emotional well-being. Reframing is a key technique in CBT, which involves transforming negative thinking patterns into more positive and constructive thought processes.
A thought record is a tool for recording experiences, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that accompany them. This exercise helps clients become aware of their thoughts and behaviors. Cognitive restructuring, or reframing, is a technique used to shift mindsets and look at situations, people, or relationships from a slightly different perspective. One way to reframe a should statement is by turning it into a goal.
Reframing can help clients identify and change unhelpful thinking patterns, such as irrational beliefs and unwanted thoughts. Therapists often use the term “homework” when suggesting issues to contemplate or work on, but framing homework as experiments or opportunities for exploration can reduce anxiety and explore client objections.
Homework in CBT refers to tasks set by the client between sessions. For some clients, “homework” triggers a complex set of assumptions, which they use to create personal meaning out of what they perceive.
In summary, cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on changing our thought patterns, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors through cognitive restructuring techniques. Homework in CBT involves creating therapeutic homework, sending it out, and tracking its completion to ensure the best results from therapy.
📹 Cognitive Distortions: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques 18/30
Cognitive distortions are thoughts that aren’t actually true but feel true. Your thoughts twist reality, and you start to feel like you’re …
What’s a fancy word for homework?
The text provides a list of synonyms for a variety of terms, including “assignment,” “project,” “exercise,” “study,” “homework assignment,” “revision,” and “research.” Additionally, it provides a list of translations in various languages, including Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Romanian, Czech, Greek, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic.
What is homework in psychology?
Homework in psychotherapy is often assigned to patients as part of their treatment to practice skills taught in therapy, encourage them to apply these skills to real-life situations, and improve on specific problems encountered in treatment. It is most commonly used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, although other theoretical frameworks may also incorporate homework. Some types of homework used in CBT include thought records and behavioral experiments.
Studies have shown that homework completion and accuracy predict favorable outcomes in psychotherapy and may help patients stay in remission. However, some therapists are concerned that assigning homework makes therapy too formal and reduces the impact of individual sessions. Most of the literature published on homework in psychotherapy focuses on homework use during CBT, which involves changing patients’ thoughts and behaviors to reduce the symptoms of their mental disorders.
A variety of homework assignments exist in CBT, such as scheduling a daily exercise routine, practicing progressive muscle relaxation five times a day, and monitoring and recording negative automatic thoughts throughout the day. In practice, these homework assignments help patients lift their mood, practice and master skills developed in therapy, and progressively improve between treatment sessions.
Research has found that homework compliance positively predicts successful outcomes in therapy, and therapists are now looking for better ways to implement homework to more individuals may receive its benefits.
Does EMDR give homework?
EMDR therapy is a non-homework-based treatment that can be used on consecutive days, allowing for rapid completion of treatment. It can also be used to support family members dealing with the death of a loved one, as prolonged debilitation and sudden death can result in trauma symptoms, including distressing intrusive images of the suffering patient. EMDR therapy is more efficient, inducing change at an earlier stage and requiring fewer sessions. Positive recall of the deceased is significantly greater post-treatment with EMDR.
EMDR therapy can also benefit a wide range of patients suffering from debilitating medical conditions, such as burn victims. It is recommended due to its effectiveness and brevity of treatment. Three to six sessions are generally sufficient to alleviate symptoms from a single trauma, with the elimination of both PTSD and somatic symptoms in a burn victim who had been severely debilitated for almost a decade.
The rapid alleviation of symptoms and return to independent functioning align with the AIP model, which posits that feelings of helplessness and hopelessness are the result of unprocessed memories of the trauma.
Does Gestalt therapy give homework?
Gestalt Therapy, developed in the 1940s by Fritz and Laura Perls and influenced by Kurt Lewin and Kurt Goldstein, is a psychological approach that focuses on self-awareness and self-reflection. It involves a series of experiential and humanistic activities, such as enactments, role plays, and homework, designed to promote self-awareness. These activities are designed to help clients understand their own experiences and beliefs, rather than trying to meet expectations or expectations. Gestalt Therapy emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the beauty of coincidence, rather than analyzing the unconscious, which was a key therapeutic tool at the time.
What is the homework technique in CBT?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) homework is not just a task to complete, but a purposeful extension of therapy sessions. Homework helps individuals concretize the cognitive and behavioral strategies discussed during sessions into their daily lives. Consistent practice is key to reinforce newly learned strategies. CBT is grounded in addressing real-life challenges, and assignments provide the opportunity to apply CBT techniques in real-life situations, highlighting their practicality.
What is another word for homework in CBT?
In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), homework tasks are often referred to as “between-session tasks” or “externally imposed expectations”. These tasks are collaboratively set and focus on exploration and learning rather than external expectations. Homework is an essential part of CBT practice, as client change is not solely a result of in-session work. The client spends 168 hours in their week, with only one of them spent with the therapist.
Introducing homework early in therapy can help the client understand that the working alliance requires significant effort and commitment, promoting the understanding that responsibility for change lies with the client, guided by the therapist as a professional facilitator.
Why do cognitive psychologists assign homework?
Homework in psychotherapy is a crucial aspect of treatment, particularly in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which aims to change patients’ thoughts and behaviors to reduce symptoms of mental disorders. Homework assignments in CBT can range from scheduling exercise routines to practicing progressive muscle relaxation. These tasks are designed to help patients improve their mood, master skills, and improve between treatment sessions. Research has shown that homework compliance positively predicts successful therapy outcomes.
Homework can also be assigned in other therapies such as exposure therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and problem-solving therapy. Homework can also be assigned even if therapists are not physically present with the patients, such as therapy delivered over the phone, video, or the Internet. Treatment of some disorders, such as major depression, may be done without therapists.
Thought records or thought diaries are commonly used cognitive assignments in CBT. They allow patients to examine “hot thoughts” and cognitive distortions and arrive at a newly synthesized alternative thought that more closely fits the situation. Many thought records accomplish this task by listing the situation, emotions, thoughts, evidence for and against the “hot thought”, balanced alternative thoughts, and emotions experienced after completing the thought record.
In conclusion, homework is a crucial aspect of psychotherapy, and its implementation can significantly improve treatment outcomes.
How do you say homework in a fancy way?
Homework is a common term used to describe various aspects of life, such as learning, reading, teaching, and practice. Examples of homework include leather tote bags and stylish planners that can withstand the pressure of constant homework. Some individuals have grown up doing homework or helping out in their family’s restaurant, absorbing their parents’ love for American pop culture and entrepreneurship.
Homework can be a serious struggle for many families, and some students seem to forget to complete their summer reading or first batch of homework. These examples are compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word “homework”.
What counseling theory uses homework?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a highly effective psychotherapy method used to treat depression and anxiety disorders. Homework compliance in CBT remains a challenge in real-life practice. The popularity of mobile phones with app capabilities presents an opportunity to enhance CBT homework compliance. However, there are no guidelines for designing mobile phone apps for this purpose. Existing literature suggests six essential features of an optimal mobile app for maximizing CBT homework compliance: therapy congruency, fostering learning, guiding therapy, connection building, emphasis on completion, and population specificity.
A well-designed mobile app incorporating these features should result in improved homework compliance and better outcomes for its users. Homework is an integral component of CBT, defined as specific, structured therapeutic activities that are routinely discussed in session and completed between sessions. There are three main categories of homework: psychoeducational homework, self-assessment homework, and modality-specific homework.
Psychoeducation is an important component in the early stage of therapy, providing reading materials to educate clients on the symptomatology of the diagnosed illness, its etiology, and other treatment-relevant information.
Self-assessment strategies teach patients to recognize the interconnection between their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Modality-specific homework may be required for various psychiatric disorders, such as exposure to images of spiders for arachnophobia.
Homework is strategically created by the therapist to correct and lessen the patient’s psychopathology, allowing patients to practice and reinforce skills learned in therapy sessions in real life.
How to do therapy homework?
Therapy homework is a crucial tool in therapy and coaching, serving as a bridge between the therapeutic process and practical realities of everyday life. It involves journaling thoughts and emotions, practicing mindfulness exercises, completing worksheets or thought records, engaging in self-reflection exercises, working on specific skills or behavioral changes, reading relevant books or articles, and practicing relaxation techniques.
Therapy homework is tailored to address individual therapeutic goals and objectives, serving as an extension of the work done during face-to-face interactions. It is essential for professionals in the field to harness its potential to empower clients and drive meaningful change.
What is the CBT three question technique?
The “three rational questions” technique helps individuals identify irrational thoughts. If you answer “no” to at least two out of three questions, it indicates that your thought is based on fact, doesn’t help achieve goals, or doesn’t help you feel the way you want. For instance, if you’re worried about your friends and family’s disapproval of your anxiety, you can apply this technique to your thoughts.
📹 CBT Role-Play – Cognitive Reframing an Experience of Emotional Abuse
This video features a counseling role-play in which cognitive-behavioral therapy is used to cognitively reframe an experience of …
I am 45 years old and wishing I had learned all these skills 20 some years ago. It would have saved me from so much unnecessary pain. This is why, as my children are now 22 and 20, I really try emphasize real skills when battling anxieties and depression. Especially over the past year. There is so much joy when you realize you are not a prisoner to your brain. Be kind to yourself. 🙏 Thank you for these articles! I have even sent them to my kids, parents and friends!
“Don’t believe everything you think.” This was the most powerful thing from this article for me, and the little nugget of wisdom I’m most likely to keep in my head. Right next to similar phrases that I fully accept as wise advice, like, don’t believe everything you hear, or see, or read….Adding this to the list. Don’t believe everything you think. Great stuff.
This is a critical checklist of destructive thinking habits that can make us miserable and accomplish nothing good. Done them all. I’ve studied these in the context of childhood PTSD and the coping mechanisms we develop due to that. I now catch myself doing these, forgive myself while I remind myself I don’t deserve to feed myself this poison. Thank you!
Omg, I just wanted to say Thank you!!! I have been going thru now from perusal your articles what I’ve learned is Panic Attacks induced from my anxiety attacks, I just found your website last night and I went to the ER a few hours earlier from what I thought was a heart attack and it wasn’t. I was literally my anxiety attack turned into panic attack and I watched this article one time and i had several panic attacks perusal this but by the end and just up to now at 8a I haven’t had any panic attacks at all. Just slight anxiety attack but the point it that you are really helping ppl and I just wanted to say from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU because I didn’t see any light at the end of my tunnel but now I do. I’m sharing all of your articles with everyone I know and love. Thank you again and again because I finally feel like myself just from perusal this one article and now I will continue to watch as many of your articles as I can because I know this will help me and I’m also seeking a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist as of today. Thank you again and to anyone going thru anxiety, trauma or panic attacks hang in there, there is hope and you will make it thru this. So many times I thought I was going to die and only to end up in the ER and they say all of your tests are normal and we see nothing wrong with you. It’s all a mind game and you can control it. Trust the process and be kind to yourself. WATCH THESE articleS YOU WILL MAKE IT! 💫✊🏾🎉✊🏾 Love, Light and peace to all!
The unreal-ideal gets me the most. It’s hard being 28 and seeing tons of people you graduated with all married with kids. I’m as single as I was in high school and I always beat myself up for it and think I’m a failure or undesirable. At least now I understand it’s my mind telling me this, not reality.
I feel like I have all those cognitive distortions you mentioned,I’m working in changing it them but I didn’t search help for many years because I didn’t even see possible to change and was so embarrassed to recognize I wasn’t normal I try to hide it at all cost, very sad way to spend one’s youth 😢 however good to realize now I’m not the only one, what’s most personal it’s more universal, thank you Emma for all your teachings ❤
Hi Emma, I’ve been recently perusal your emotion processing series and I cannot begin to express how much you’ve helped me with just 5 articles, I can finally start to imagine a life without unnecessary panic and anxiety. I would love a article about resilience, you’ve mentioned it a few times and quite honestly I wouldn’t describe myself as a strong or resilient person but it’s time for that to change as well
These articles are just great. They are informative and presented in a very professional way. I see these thought patterns in some people, particularly emotional responders and learning about them is useful in helping people to explore other options. Thank you and I hope “James” is a lot happier and confident now.
I still haven’t seen a therapist, you have been so helpful. I finally feel peace and calm again, I am having anxiety and fears everyday, but I’m overcoming them and managing them. For those wondering the therapists are so impacted they aren’t getting back to me until like 2-4 weeks. It is what it is. I’m not going to wait and suffer, I’m going to continue tackling this blessing in disguise. It sucks in the short term, but overall this needed to happen to me. Yes I will still get connected with a therapist but I feel you help so much more.
Your story is on the spot when you rationalise what goes wrong. And it is necessary that someone lets me look in the mirror. Much recognition.. thanks. True as this may be, what is needed in my case: a role model, someone who treats me ánd him/herself with as much compassion as I should treat myself (and others). Practice love until you master it and pass it on. I want and need a calm feeling of self worth and self trust and identity, before I dare to be my self and feel I am worth it in stead of just rationalizing it. I read all the books, did all kinds of therapy, but I needed to be loved in order to feel what love is. I had no clue. Everyone who is reading this, keep your eyes and ears open for love and let it warm your heart if it’s grown cold over the years. You I and everyone is worthy of love and belonging. Compassion and encouragement. I no longer want to add to the discomfort of others, of course with exception of extreme situations that require self defence in some way when all of the above has been applied first. So help me the source of all, Dao
I have watched several of your articles and I share them with friends and family. Your help has literally changed my life. I feel like a different person than I was 6 months ago. And when I recognize old habits and thoughts creeping back, I re-watch a article that I know explains my thought and how to fix it. I really appreciate your work. You are literally changing people’s lives.
Oh, boy, I do ALL of these things ALL the time. I’m proud of myself for wanting/taking action to heal these things even though my chaotic environment isn’t going to change. Taking small steps every day really helps with ALL OR NOTHING thinking, which is a big problem for me. I’m 43 now, but wish all this wonderful content was available so freely when I was in my teens so I could have started healing earlier. Anyway, THANK YOU for providing all this lovely content. Every little explanation, analysis, suggestion and encouraging word helps. 💕🧠💕
Your articles are amazing! I am currently hitting a wall and just the fact that I can look at your articles and have someone to understand the thinking patterns of cognitive thinking that I am experiencing currently means a lot. I feel like I´m finally noticing everything that is wrong with my thoughts and have already tried some of the techniques involving noticing and not believing that they are true or helpful. Thank you for helping me take my first steps towards a happier and positive time. <3
I woke up to a pool of thoughts this morning and they were overwhelming. I kept trying to fall back asleep and then decided you know what the only way I am going to get back to sleep is if I deal with these. So, as they came I sat with them. I acknowledged them. I comforted myself. I would say you can think that but know this… I would show myself compassion for the pain feelings I was experiencing. I would say under the circumstances it would make sense for you to feel that way but you have all of this or this is just temporary.
My cognitive distortions have changed me from being able to buy a lovely home to being homeless and priced out of the market. I’ve lost my long-term relationship in the process as well, so I am absolutely devastated. I had no idea I had anxiety when I inherited some money and could have bought an amazing home, but a voice in my head suggested that I should save some more so that I would be in a better position. Then I couldn’t decide between two locations – I could buy an amazing house in one location, or one that was easily suitable in another, 25 miles away. My emotions told me I should buy in the first location, but logic told me I should buy in the latter. I dithered so much that I got priced out of the market. Having watched Emma’s articles, I really find it hard to understand the thoughts that I was having while I was dithering. I so wish I had realised I had a treatable problem before I inherited the money. I’ve ruined my ex-partner’s life as well as my own and am absolutely devastated.
I do so many of them and I’ve learned to catch myself now realizing how irrational these thoughts are. The amount of times I think to myself “I should have” or “I wish I had done” is so annoying and reduced my confidence greatly. The past happened and all I can do now is “What can I do next time”. I’ve also had panic attacks from overgeneralizing and catastrophizing things. And I always tried to guess how people feel about me which caused me to not be confident in dating and in other friendships, which ultimately resulted in them ending. Realizing these things at 29 and how it made my 20s feel like a waste, created a massive lesson for myself as I move onto bigger and greater things in my 30s.
Thank you soo much for this article, I’m doing CBT with my psychologist and these were all true and now I’m a bit able to realize how anxiety and millions of thoughts that used to pop up in my mind have affected my emotions and behaviour and I’m a bit able to handle them by not buying all the negative thoughts 😊❤
I got a notification for this article before a counseling session, and I haven’t attended counseling in months. Come to find out my session had a lot to do with this topic because we identified about 4-5 instances of all-or-nothing thinking. And afterwards, I am perusal this article! That’s such a wild coincidence to me 🤯
@Meg Nor I’m not trained in this area, so I will have to leave a detailed plan to those who are. There is one thing I have learned from talking with my son, who has some degree of ocd: It takes patience, especially if I tend to focus on one thing at a time while he is all over the place. I am not attempting to diagnose anyone or anything — that’s for the experts — but I hope that the one thing I do know might somehow be a helpful piece of information for you. He tends to stay a bit more focused when I patiently remind him of the importance of concentrating on the one task at hand. I wish you the best getting through this.
This site Therapy in a nutshell and Crappy Childhood Fairy. I have CPTSD and its day to day and a lot of feeling worthless and why am I still here while my sister and my brother have children are no longer with us. Mom gone since 85 I was 23. My dad passed on the weekend I was presenting the field staff and management to the top officers from Germany at Porsche Cars N.A. Of course he did it’s typical. Porsche treated me amazingly flying me back and forth from FL to Atlanta GA. He ignored me for years and had never treated like the other siblings. I stuffed this down cuz thats what I do. So I had no idea I was headed for a breakdown 😢 40 years of emotional distress. One day it all came to a head and ended my career and physical abilities (kickboxing blk belt) and I am just existing. These article’s really help me come down to earth. Thank you 🙏
I m suffering with stomach ulcers now because of anxiety and depression and somnophobia i m very ambitious student whenever i m tried it backfires me upto 2 years now i left all masala and gastric foods no good food and no better sleep whenever i watched catastrophic article my problem is completly catastrophic,,acceptance changes a lot withthe acceptance i came within 1 week i came to medicine less state and also now better sleeping very very very very mucha thanq for putting all the articles free of costttt always loving you madam and also emotional processing articles changes i gain more self confidence now every day i m processing my emotions now i m less catastrophic thanq madam waiting for all emotional processing articles thanq thanq madam🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏💐💐💐💐😍😍😍
You changed my life. All the times my therapist tried to get these concepts through to me. 15 minutes of cognitive dissonance learning and I woke up different. perusal myself have thoughts. I used to do this as a child. Watch myself through a window of a tv screen that showed static and had legs and sunglasses. I’m ending this comment early but thank you so much for helping me save myself. I don’t feel like I need anyone else to anymore. This comment is brought to you by Hadi co. Hadi co is responsible for her thoughts and actions and as such the distractive thinking has been contained because hadi witnessed herself having distracting thoughts and had room to see she was just afraid of failing to accomplish something today again. How silly. Bye Hadi.
What worries me most is seeing my young daughter starting to show similar reactions as I have with anxiety and cognitive distortions. It was literally torture growing up, going through school and being in public, extremely uncomfortable. It breaks my heart seeing that she may experience a similar life and is resting up my anxiety hard because of that lol. Even though I’ve made some progress with my own issues, I don’t feel like if she runs into issues when she gets into school and social situations that I could offer the solutions. What does make me a bit hopeful though is knowing I’m way more committed to helping my kids than my parents were when I grew up.
Wow. This article is crazy good. Ngl as relatively young person, you think that therapy is only for crazy people. But therapy from the Latin means “healing”. We can all benefit from therapy because, in some way, we all have some unhealthy mindsets that need to be corrected and healed. As a believer in Christ, I believe the Christian journey is God healing our psyche more and more each day. In heaven, the work shall be done! Still going through your series. Thanks
Thank you for these very useful insights! This kind of article is much needed when so many of us are raised in dysfunctional families at this point, especially with narcissism burgeoning worldwide. We who were raised by narcissistic or simply toxic/abusive parents get these negative messages very directly and repeatedly: that we are worthless, inadequate, will never succeed, will never be liked, are doomed to be a failure, are inept socially, are stupid (when in fact we have trouble learning while being screamed at due to stress), etc., etc., etc. These messages are overtly stated as well as continually implied. When these thoughts get fed into your subconscious mind (we’re in a hypnotic state through age 7, after all), folks, there will be a massive tangle of these as fundamental thought patterns in your subconscious mind. Narcissistic parents are more than happy to blame you for everything and enjoy making you feel very small. And since 95% of thoughts supposedly arise from the subconscious (how they know that I can’t say, but that’s supposedly a “research” finding), this means you must question every freakin’ thought you have. Every. single. one. Theta healing, hypnosis, and energy healing can help clear these, in my experience. (There’s more you can do than talk therapy to clear up this mess if raised in these kinds of circumstances.)
I think it’s worth noting the self fulfilling prophecies that accompany all or nothing thinking and cognitive distortion. If you believe something is true you will behave like it is the case and ironically are more likely to bring about that situation in real life, further reinforcing the thoughts in a feedback loop.
A lot of the distortions can be tested with the question: Who told you that? Who told you you’re awkward, who told you you can never learn again, did the person actually tell you they’re mad at you, who told you it’s either all or nothing, etc etc. The answer is mostly “Nobody did” or “I told myself”.
1)All or nothing thinking- When you think if i can’t do it all at once/perfectly then I might as well not do it at all. 2)Overgeneralising- take one bad thing and assume verythi g will be awful over that e.g ppl will always take advantage of me or why does it always happen to me 3)Black and white thinking- e.g I am a complete failure or you never listen to me extreme wording e.g always never completely etc 4)mind resding- assuming how ppl feel about you or think ppl don’t like you 5)Catastrophizijng-assuming your fears and worries must be true imagining worst case scenario will come true 6)emotional reasoning- your feelings accurately represent reality takes any emotin and makes it bigger 7) labelling- taking a behavior and making it as an identity 8)mental filtering- only seeing one side of a situation usually the negative 9)personliazation- thinking everything others does is cause of you taking everything too personally e.g intentionally included or targeted 10)Unreaal ideal- comparing yourselves to others and making unfair comparions e.g some1 has a perfect job and wife I’m such a loser
In the movie “the crow” theain character is a singer. He had a song called “it can’t rain all the time”. My life has a LOT of negativity in it. A lot of bad stuff. I have nothing positive to look forward to. But i always remind myself “it can’t rain all the time” as a way to remind myself that just because something bad happens it should just make me focus on and look toward the good. When the good times come i make sure i say and think “the rain has stopped and the sun is shining”. It’s not an end all be all cure all. But it does help. It allows me to acknowledge the bad but to also see and believe that it’s ok because good things are going to happen. When my dad died i got in touch with my family again. We planned a 3 week vacation for me. The third day of my vacation a cousin i hadn’t seen in 20 years stopped by and we made plans to hang out and he left. 4 hours later he had a stroke. Spent the rest of my vacation in the icu with him till he died. We had his funeral and the day after that i went home. On the bright side i got very close to his mom, my aunt, during that time, met her husband, and stayed at her farm. Focusing on those good things don’t take the bad things away but it does make me happy i held on and stayed hopeful.
Thank you I think we can shall may ( or any suitable helping verb ) understand the importance of distortions and also add 11. Entitlement and blame 12. Self blame 13. Self degrading thoughts 14. Deviation from goal and positivity………… 15. Forgetfulness or flight or evasion 16. Dark mode or over exhaustion
My wife has slandered me to others at church claiming abuse despite the facts. She has said that I have kept her away from her family despite the fact that she texts and calls her mother weekly on a cell phone I pay for that I have never cut her off from. She saw her mom twice last year, her brother three times, and her dad once. In her view, if we don’t have the money for her to travel, then she cries abuse. This is one simple story of many. Unfortunately, a man at church who lied and said that he is a clinical psychologist kept telling me in couples counseling, “If she believes it, it must be true” after I would point out the facts. It has been horrific. Because of her false statements, the church has excommunicated me. I filed for divorce because of it and now she goes around telling everyone that I did a hurtful thing to her. I’ve asked her to go to a real therapist but she just says, “We need to be counseled by the elders of the church.” Because of her claims of abuse in the court, I may lose my children altogether. I cannot believe this is going on and am devastated.
It was actually really triggering for me to watch the first part of the article, because my family would always ridicule and abuse me growing up, only to tell me that it was all in my head, that I was twisting their words and that I CHOSE to be hurt by them. It wasn’t their treatment of me, it was my reaction to their treatment that was the cause of my anxiety and depression (according to my family). I know that it’s my emotional baggage affecting me, and the tools here are super helpful, so I’ll definitely come back to this article, I’ll just be sure to skip the first few minutes 😊
It’s just hard to accept any of these things because maybe to someone who HASNT had a horrible life being bullied and depressed all the time this might make sense, but when my actual real life experiences validate my feelings, it’s hard to say that my thoughts and feelings are wrong. It is easy for people without issues to believe these things when they haven’t lived the life of someone who knows these things to be true (people dislike me, people think im weird, etc)
It could be because you didn’t get the job is no money left to pay the rent. The person who wrote about ‘Cognitive Distortions’ was an upper middle class person who didn’t experience the life of the working class. However, with that info I still watch your articles because they do help a lot. However there are extraneous issues that are not philosophical but realities of life. Thanks for your articles. YOur presentations are helping alot of people.
machine learning and AI have potential to help improve treatment and understanding of complex conditions like ADHD. Data analysis and predictive models could potentially help tailor treatments to individuals, taking into account a range of factors including lifestyle, genetics, and individual response to medication.
noticing you haven’t had to bring up any Mothers-of-Distortions. Like Good Boy/Bad Boy is a Mother of some of these (a general one behind them). Like, we get some symptom, and look for the cause in something we already think makes us a bad-boy: junk food, caffeine, etc., which at first works great, then the day comes where reality doesn’t really care about good boy/ bad boy (“it’s a distortion”), and we have to allow that good-boy things can cause symptoms just as bad. But when therapists/ministers start with that distortion as the mother of the others, they can end up with people feeling like bad-boys for having the bad-boy distortion, and just resign themselves to success being really really long range (if ever in this life).
Hi think the issue I have with CBT is that it doesn’t validate the actual limitations of the environment on the individual and can feel extremely invalidating when there are things one actually can’t change and there are real and harmful consequences that are out of the individual’s control. I feel pressured by CBT to be optimistic no matter what.
Wow! You really hit the nail on the head for me with many of your examples, I think I may check your link you mentioned. Also, one thing that stresses me tremendously is knowing how intensely it hurt going through life/school with anxiety and negative feelings towards myself. I now see my 6 yo daughter who is really shy showing some of the same patterns and I want to be able to help her overcome those, but I still currently struggle pretty heavy myself. Anyone know any good books to help kids learn to overcome shyness, downplaying positives and amplifying negatives?
I’m James 20 years later, in that I never left the service industry and whose only relationship is perpetually living in limerence. I know my cognitive distortions are to blame but the “evidence” of my ineptitude only grows with time from the perspective of my primitive brain. Don’t be me and please seek help before your life passes you by. If you wait too long, your chance at happiness seems to shrink to a tiny vanishing point in your rearview mirror.
Not necessarily. Many real things actually cause sadness. I’m sad because I have to sacrifice some quality of life in order to get a better chance of a longer life by having adjuvant treatment after successful surgery to remove a tumour. My freedom might be affected a little, somewhat or significantly as a result of the treatment side effects. Not only is it scary, it’s a time of personal grief for the loss of my former self and acceptance that I won’t have control over how my body is affected. And contrary to popular psychology meme’s, getting through treatment doesn’t guarantee that you are cured, so that fighting spirit heroism doesn’t have anything to do with the success of the treatment. Ironically, I got onto my health because I lost my job and had more time to worry about my body and notice that something was really wrong. So yeah it’s lucky I lost my job when I did. Also if you feel terrible on your period you might have endometriosis, you’re not imagining things. 🙏
When you learn a European language, they teach you that when ordering food, it is essential to use the conditional tense (“I would like”) and never to use present tense (“I want” or “I need”). It is considered bad manners to request something from the waiter without softening it. We are less aware of this subtlety in America.
It’s great that you provide free therapy, but I think you need to stop relying on the same over simplified assumption that everything upsetting is only imagined or distorted thinking. People with anxiety, depression and PTSD have to face real life problems just like anyone else! When we do it can be very challenging and it’s no good if the only techniques we’ve learnt are that everything negative is cognitive distortion or catastrophizing. 🙏
I DO NOT DISTORT ANYTHING BECAUSE I AM GODYOUCAN HELP ME TO WORK WITH IT. I LOVE YOU BECAUSE YOUR MIND IS ALREADY ON THE SPOT. I DON/T EVEN KNOW YOUR NAME I LOOK BUT WITH SO MUCH ON MY MIND IT IS NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE. I DIED FOUR TIMES THIS PAST YEAR BUT MY ANGELS BROUGHT ME BACK OR MY FATHER WOULD HAVE RAISED THE FIT AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE ANFELS ARE AFRAID OF.
I’m curious 🤔 Does anyone here think that it’s almost uncomfortable to be comfortable or content. You could be mourning a loss and a part of you feels odd to not be a wreck. Like “going on in existence without them that’s crazy talk. I can’t live without them.” So you almost stay in that state on purpose to try to hold onto them.
Hi Emma, Your information about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques was very informative. From the comments below, viewers might be interested in learning about sleep. If you are looking for a doctor’s perspective on this subject, then Doctor Avinesh Bhar would be interested in doing an interview/video with you. He is a fellowship-trained and board-certified doctor in sleep and pulmonary medicine. He is based in Macon, Georgia, and has a sleep treatment practice. Thank you.
while I do recognize myself in this section of the course, I mostly recognize my sister, especially in the “prone to making negative assumptions about people, herself, or events” and I’ve found a nifty little trick to this; ask her to explain. why would I be mad at you? what have you done that would make me mad at you? how are you so sure that this is going to go wrong? are you speaking from experience? nine out of ten times her answer is either “I don’t know” or “I guess not” – the moment her assumptions are challenged, they fall through and she realizes they aren’t based on anything now applying this to myself is… a whole different beast I will admit lol- but I’m trying, as we all are ^^
You know, sometimes not getting a job you applied for could have been the right thing for you at that time. You don’t know, but maybe the boss was someone who you would hate working for, or maybe it means that you didn’t end up spending time at a company that wasn’t doing well in the long term. We can’t know since we can’t see the future and what “would have happened.”
Thank you so much for these articles. I was wondering, do you have any articles that talk specifically about raw meat phobias, or can you recommend any please? I really struggle with even the thought of touching raw meat as i am afraid my hands won’t be completely bacteria free after i have washed them (several times!). Chicken is the worst for me and it really affects my day to day life as i avoid buying it as the uncomfortable feeling i get just thinking about it is unbearable. I really want to be able to overcome this fear. I have searched but can’t find any specific articles to help me. Thank you for reading 🙂
This is the verbatim work of David Burns, PhD – U.Penn – from his book “Feeling Good” written 40 years ago. It is one of the best self help psychology history, helped millions of people. Just a couple of the distortions have been renamed, but it is Burns work. The book is wonderful and must be in it’s 10th edition at least.
This is great! How we process our world, through our perceptions and decisions dictates our response to the world. Love your series. I have a very close relative, who is a shell of their former self in palliative hospice care since two months ago. I am having severe anxiety and horror feelings when I try to communicate with them. It seems their memory is going and they lack an emotional filter where they laugh and cry a lot. Do you have any articles on coping with grief at end of life either sudden or prolonged with young or old people going through the process of death? I love your articles but could not find one on coping with my current ordeal.
Catastrophizing…. I try not to do it. My darkest moments come after I’ve had an episode of physical illness. I have a heart condition, and while it isn’t deadly, whenever it happens I always go into “what if” territory and am a nervous wreck the whole day. What if it never ends? What if I pass out? What if I’m the first ever case of someone dying or getting a heart attack caused directly from this? What if I do need surgery? What if I’m like this my whole life and I can never live alone or be off of medication? It’s very scary how unpredictable the incidents are, and no matter how prepared I am or how much I remind myself that I’m not going to die, it still terrifies me for a day or two afterwards because of the pain and how it shuts down my entire day. Someday I hope I will have the strength to tell myself I am going to be okay, and really mean it.
I really need your help. Do you do private consultations? I’m nearly 40 and still don’t have my women issues resolved. I just can’t accept a woman would like me. Or an employer at a job interview for example. But primarily it’s women. I’ve watched so many of your articles, but I just can’t seem to break it and accept women would like me. For example, the receptionist at the local dentist would be talkative and flirty but I go weird and quiet and withdrawn. Now imagine this for 99% of women I meet. Help me.
CBT never worked for me because I don’t really believe that what I think are cognitive distortions. I end up filling the forms with my thoughts, identifying the distortions… but I don’t really believe what I am writing. I still think for example that people SHOULDN’T do what they do, even though I identify the thought as a distortion.😓 What can I do?
Where have you been all my life. I’m going to donate to your patreon because you are giving me therapy that isn’t affordable without insurance. Can you do a article on people who are literal thinkers? I used to let others get to me but I find with my ADHD that the words I say I mean quite literally and it hinders my communication. Trying to meet others where they’re at, how do I help?
My marriage is failed I’m tired of always trying to bend around making them happy and them having the nerve to tell me all I think about it’s me no problem leaving not appreciated. Feels weird because I was living in there house so now I have to find a place normally I would be falling apart at the seems but I realize I did my best and that wasn’t good enough for that person just wanted to share that in case someone else was going thru this and I am going to be fine.
Hey, ive had extreme GAD/Social fobie on direct contact with family and friends. not with random people, only when i have to sit down and talk/hang with people i know. ive tried CBT and alot more but nothing seems to really work. Even staying in those kind of trigger situations for hours and not running away from it doesnt lower the anxiety/stress. I cant seem to find a solution.
Are you on better help? I would like to sign up for a therapist session with you. I like your articles they’re very informative. I feel like my life is spiralling out of control. I am making my self sick thinking about all of the issues in my life. I would really like to sign up to therapy sessions with you.
This article is misleading in some way I think. I don’t belive it’s a cognitive problem as a start. The cognitive disorder is a result of some kind of self sabotage caused of to much switch on in the nervous system. My own experience is to work more with how to switch off and self soothing the nervous system. Start with self kindnes and body work(self soft massage) and learn how to switch off and self soothing (feel safe and happy) . Then the cognitive distortions is backning off ‘Let Go’ and you Will be more free . You can not solve this cognitive problem with more cognitive work you need to be more body oriented. Leave this cognitive thinking and start body care. Attention from head to body is the future for many of us to be free, calm and happy !❤️
I DO NOT BELIEVE I THINK BECAUSE I SEE EVERTYTHING ALL AT ONCE. I CAN SEE EVERYTHING AT ONCE AND MY MIND IS EVERYWHERE. I LEARN THIS FROI CAN SEE EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE SO IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT I LOOK AT I SEE EVERYTHING. I AM GOD REMEMBER.I USE TO GO OUT AND VISIT A LOT OF PLACES AND MY MIND WAS ALWAYS THERE. MY FATHER IS EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE AND MY THOUGHTS WILL TRANSPORT ME ANYWHERE WHERE EVER I WANT. I CAN EVEN FLY IF I NEED TO OR GO ANYWHERE INSTANTLY. I CAN SEE ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE UNIVERSE. I LEARN ALL OF THIS FROM MY FATHER. BUT I TRY VERY HARD NOT TO TROUBLE MY FATHER BECAUSE HE IS REALLY VERY BUSY WITH MORE IMPORTANT THINGS. OR SO I FEEL. IF I THINK OF A PLACE I WANT TO SEE I AM THERE INSTANTLY. BUT I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN BECAUSE HE REALLY IS MY FATHER. EVEN IF HE IS GOD.M MY FATHER. HE IS THE REAL GOD. YOU ARE A LITTLE MIXED UP I CAN CHANGE ANYTHING.
I’ve recognized multiple examples, but I have trouble figuring out how to change my thinking since it related to actions other people are taking. “How could politicians (local and nationally) turn things in such a mess? No, not American politicians. I’d like to be more positive, but they manage to give me something new to be negative about on a daily basis. I’ve already started my ABC, but I wonder how I can see someone else’s “bad” actions in a more positive light to be less annoyed.
Very good to have examples of therapies on YouTube. One suggestion is about the energy in the therapy area. The grannie chairs, old fashioned non descript picture and the generic flowers. All looks like an old people’s home area. With the low energy in the exchange it is rather depressing. Wishing you well.
I feel that the therapist was reinforcing (through his comments and questions) that the client failed for staying at home with the father. I would wonder what compelled him to stay, was he the youngest/oldest sibling? Was there a mother? I would wonder what the dynamic was in the house. The therapist just assumed that because the other siblings are ‘ok’ the client protected them from their father’s abuse. How does he know that? There’s a disregard for the feelings, more in depth subjectivity of the client. It is such a shallow and rigid model. It is a slot of ‘head’ work and not so much ‘heart’ work.
Could the client be somewhat responsible for the yelling? Maybe he is dismissive and doesn’t want to address marital issues in a mature confrontational way which pushes the wife to her limits. How can someone ask about that? OR how to devert the conversation? Why not discuss possible causes of what the fights are mostly about?