Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies

Retrain your thinking and your life with these simple, scientifically proven techniques!

Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT for short, is often cited as the gold standard of psychotherapy. Its techniques allow you to identify the negative thought processes that hold you back and exchange them for new, productive ones that can change your life. CBT's popularity continues to grow, and more individuals are turning to CBT as a way to help develop a healthier, more productive outlook on life.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies shows you how you can easily incorporate the techniques of CBT into your day-to-day life and produce tangible results. You’ll learn how to take your negative thoughts to boot camp and retrain them, establishing new habits that tackle your toxic thoughts and retool your awareness, allowing you to be free of the weight of past negative thinking biases.

• Move on: Take a fresh look at your past and maybe even overcome it
• Mellow out: Relax yourself through techniques that reduce anger and stress
• Lighten up: Read practical advice on healthy attitudes for living and ways to nourish optimism
• Look again: Discover how to overcome low self-esteem and body image issues

Whatever the issue, don’t let your negative thoughts have the last say—start developing your new outlook on life today with help from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies!

Rhena Branch is an accredited CBT practitioner, supervisor and trainer who has trained hundreds of counselors. She is currently a lecturer at the University of East Anglia. Rob Willson, PhD, is a cognitive behavioural therapist with over 25 years experience. He teaches and supervises internationally on CBT for OCD and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

 Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 4

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go From Here 5

Part 1: Introducing CBT Basics 7

Chapter 1: You Feel the Way You Think 9

Using Scientifically Tested Methods 10

Understanding CBT 11

Combining science, philosophy and behaviour 11

Progressing from problems to goals 12

Making the Thought–Feeling Link 12

Emphasising the meanings you attach to events 13

Acting out 16

Learning Your ABCs 16

Characterising CBT  18

Chapter 2: Spotting Errors in Your Thinking 21

Catastrophising: Turning Mountains Back Into Molehills 22

All-or-Nothing Thinking: Finding Somewhere In-between 24

Fortune-Telling: Stepping Away From the Crystal Ball 26

Mind-Reading: Taking Your Guesses with a Pinch of Salt 27

Emotional Reasoning: Reminding Yourself That Feelings Aren’t Facts 29

Overgeneralising: Avoiding the Part/Whole Error 31

Labelling: Giving Up the Rating Game 32

Making Demands: Thinking Flexibly 33

Mental Filtering: Keeping an Open Mind 35

Disqualifying the Positive: Keeping the Baby and Throwing Out the Bathwater 37

Low Frustration Tolerance: Realising You Can Bear the ‘Unbearable’ 38

Personalising: Removing Yourself from the Centre of the Universe 39

Chapter 3: Tackling Toxic Thoughts 43

Catching NATs 43

Making the thought–feeling link 44

Becoming more objective about your thoughts 44

Stepping Through the ABC Form I 44

Creating Constructive Alternatives: Completing the ABC Form II 49

Chapter 4: Designing and Conducting Behavioural Experiments 55

Seeing for Yourself: Reasons for Doing Behavioural Experiments 56

Testing Out Predictions 57

Seeking Evidence to See Which Theory Best Fits the Facts 59

Conducting Surveys 61

Making Observations 63

Ensuring Successful Behavioural Experiments 64

Keeping Records of Your Experiments 65

Chapter 5: Pay Attention! Refocusing and Retraining Your Awareness 67

Training in Task Concentration 68

Choosing to concentrate 69

Tuning in to tasks and the world around you 71

Tackling the task concentration record sheet 73

Becoming More Mindful 73

Being present in the moment 74

Letting your thoughts pass by 74

Discerning when not to listen to yourself 75

Incorporating mindful daily tasks 75

Tolerating upsetting images and unpleasant ideas 76

Part 2: Charting The Course: Defining Problems and Setting Goals 79

Chapter 6: Exploring Emotions 81

Naming Your Feelings 82

Thinking What to Feel 83

Understanding the Anatomy of Emotions 84

Comparing Healthy and Unhealthy Emotions 85

Spotting the difference in thinking 95

Spotting the difference in behaving, and ways you want to behave 97

Spotting the difference in what you focus on 98

Seeing Similarities in Your Physical Sensations 99

Identifying Feelings about Feelings 100

Defining Your Emotional Problems 102

Making a statement 102

Rating your emotional problem 102

Chapter 7: Identifying Solutions That Cause You Problems 105

When Feeling Better Can Make Your Problems Worse 106

Getting Over Depression without Getting Yourself Down 107

Loosening Your Grip on Control 108

Feeling Secure in an Uncertain World 109

Surmounting the Side Effects of Excessive Safety-Seeking 111

Wending Your Way Out of Worry 113

Preventing the Perpetuation of Your Problems 114

Helping Yourself: Putting the Petals on Your Vicious Flower 115

Chapter 8: Setting Your Sights on Goals 119

Putting SPORT into Your Goals 120

Homing In on How You Want to Be Different 121

Setting goals in relation to your current problems 121

Making a statement 122

Maximising Your Motivation 122

Identifying inspiration for change 122

Focusing on the benefits of change 123

Completing a cost–benefit analysis 123

Recording your progress 125

Part 3: Putting CBT Into Action 129

Chapter 9: Standing Up to Anxiety and Facing Fear 131

Acquiring Anti-Anxiety Attitudes 131

Thinking realistically about the probability of bad events 131

Avoiding extreme thinking 132

Taking the fear out of fear 132

Attacking Anxiety 134

Winning by not fighting 134

Defeating fear with FEAR 134

Repeatedly confronting your fears 135

Keeping your exposure challenging but not overwhelming 135

Shedding safety behaviours 137

Recording your fear-fighting 137

Overriding Common Anxieties 137

Socking it to social anxiety 138

Waging war on worry 138

Pounding on panic 138

Assaulting agoraphobia 139

Dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder 139

Hitting back at fear of heights 140

Chapter 10: Abolishing Addictions 143

Putting a Name to Your Problem 143

Familiarising Yourself with the Many Faces of Addiction 145

Accepting Yourself and Your Addiction 147

Securing Suitable Support 148

Deciding to Desist 148

Counting the costs 149

Being honest about the benefits 151

Transforming Intention into Action 153

Making a date 154

Cruising through cravings 154

Extending the time between urge and action 155

Dealing with deprivation 155

Putting positive obstacles in place 156

Leaving nothing to chance 157

Creating constructive conditions for continued recovery 157

Cleaning house 158

Taking up supportive socialising 159

Planning to Prevent Relapse 159

Chapter 11: Building a Better Body Image and Beating BDD 161

Making Friends with the Mirror 162

Do I have BDD? 163

Do I have an eating disorder? 164

Considering hypothetical cases 165

Taking Advertising and Media Messages with a Pinch of Salt 167

Recognising your own body image issues 167

Accepting yourself 171

Seeing yourself as a whole person 171

Saluting Your Body for Services Rendered 173

Enjoying scintillating sensations 174

Doing your daily duties 175

Valuing your vehicle for experience 176

Choosing to Change for All the Right Reasons 177

Maximising enjoyment 179

Bringing out your best 180

Being daring 181

Chapter 12: Deconstructing and Demolishing Depression 183

Understanding the Nature of Depression 184

Looking at What Fuels Depression 185

Going Round and Round in Your Head: Ruminative Thinking 186

Catching yourself in the act 187

Arresting ruminations before they arrest you 188

Activating Yourself as an Antidepressan 189

Tackling inactivity 190

Dealing with the here and now: Solving problems 190

Taking care of yourself and your environment 192

ACTing against Depression 192

Practising acceptance 193

Considering compassion 194

Obtaining a new outlook 195

Managing Suicidal Thoughts 196

Contemplating Complex Forms of Depression 196

Bipolar disorder 197

Cyclothymic disorder 197

Dysthymic disorder 198

Chapter 13: Sleeping Soundly 201

Assessing Your Sleep Situation 202

Eliminating Unhelpful Sleep Expectations 202

Getting Into a Clean Sleep Routine 204

Tiring yourself out 204

Establishing a sleep window 205

Slowing down on stimulation 206

Building a better bedtime routine 206

Relaxing your muscle 207

Limiting the (blue) light 207

Making your bedroom oh-so-cosy 207

Chapter 14: Overcoming Obsessions 211

Identifying and Understanding Obsessional Problems 212

Understanding obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) 213

Identifying Unhelpful Behaviours 215

Acquiring Anti-Obsessional Attitudes 216

Tolerating doubt and uncertainty 216

Trusting your judgement 216

Treating your thoughts as nothing more than thoughts 217

Being flexible and not trying too hard 218

Using external and practical criteria 218

Allowing your mind and body to do their own things 219

Normalising physical sensations, emotions and unpleasant thoughts 219

Facing Your Fears: Reducing (and Stopping) Rituals 220

Putting up firm resistance 220

Delaying and modifying rituals 221

Being Realistic about Responsibility 222

Dividing up your responsibility pie 222

Retraining your attention 224

Chapter 15: Overcoming Low Self-Esteem and Accepting Yourself 225

Identifying Issues of Self-Esteem 226

Developing Self-Acceptance 226

Understanding that you have worth because you’re human 227

Appreciating that you’re too complex to globally measure or rate 228

Acknowledging your ever-changing nature 230

Accepting your fallible nature 230

Valuing your uniqueness 230

Using self-acceptance to aid self-improvement 233

Understanding that acceptance doesn’t mean giving up 234

Being Inspired to Change 235

Actioning Self-Acceptance 237

Self-talking your way to self-acceptance 237

Following the best-friend argument 238

Dealing with doubts and reservations 239

Selecting the Self-Help Journey to Self-Acceptance 240

Chapter 16: Cooling Down Your Anger 241

Discerning the Difference between Healthy and Unhealthy Anger 242

Key characteristics of unhealthy anger 242

Hallmarks of healthy anger 244

Assembling Attitudes That Underpin Healthy Anger 245

Putting up with other people 245

Forming flexible preferences 246

Accepting other people as fallible human beings 248

Accepting yourself 248

Developing high frustration tolerance 248

Pondering the pros and cons of your temper 250

Imparting Your Indignation in a Healthy Way 250

Asserting yourself effectively 251

Coping with criticism 252

Using the disarming technique 253

Acting Assertively in the Workplace 254

Putting your point across positively 255

Remaining professional 257

Dealing with Difficulties in Overcoming Anger 257

Chapter 17: Healing Illness Anxiety 261

Analysing the Anatomy of Illness Anxiety 262

Getting to know Medically Unexplained Physical Sensations 263

Minimising Your Fear of Missing an Important Symptom 264

Feeling Secure in an Uncertain Body 265

Part 4: Looking Backwards and Moving Forwards 267

Chapter 18: Taking a Fresh Look at Your Past 269

Exploring How Your Past Can Influence Your Present 270

Identifying What Core Beliefs Are 271

Introducing the three camps of core beliefs 272

Seeing how your core beliefs interact 273

Detecting Your Core Beliefs 274

Following a downward arrow 274

Picking up clues from your dreaming and screaming 275

Tracking themes275

Filling in the blanks 276

Understanding the Impact of Core Beliefs 276

Spotting when you are acting according to old rules and beliefs 276

Understanding that unhealthy core beliefs make you prejudiced 277

Making a Formulation of Your Beliefs 279

Limiting the Damage: Being Aware of Core Beliefs 282

Developing Alternatives to Your Core Beliefs 283

Revisiting history 283

Starting from scratch 285

Chapter 19: Moving New Beliefs from Your Head to Your Heart 287

Defining the Beliefs You Want to Strengthen 288

Acting As If You Already Believe 289

Building a Portfolio of Arguments 290

Generating arguments against an unhelpful belief 290

Generating arguments to support your helpful alternative belief 292

Understanding That Practice Makes Imperfect 294

Dealing with your doubts and reservations 294

Zigging and zagging through the zigzag technique 295

Putting your new beliefs to the test 297

Nurturing Your New Beliefs 298

Chapter 20: Heading for a Healthier and Happier Life 301

Planning to Prevent Relapse 302

Filling In the Gaps 302

Choosing absorbing activities 302

Matchmaking your pursuits 303

Putting personal pampering into practice 304

Overhauling Your Lifestyle 304

Walking the walk 306

Talking the talk 308

Getting intimate 308

Living in Line with Your Values 311

Reflecting your values through action 314

Staying focused on what’s most important 316

Reshuffling priorities 316

Chapter 21: Overcoming Obstacles to Progress 317

Tackling Emotions That Get in the Way of Change 317

Shifting shame 318

Getting rid of guilt 318

Putting aside pride 319

Seeking support 320

Trying a little tenderness 321

Adopting Positive Principles That Promote Progress 321

Understanding that simple doesn’t mean easy 321

Being optimistic about getting better 322

Staying focused on your goals 323

Persevering and repeating 323

Tackling Task-Interfering Thoughts 324

Chapter 22: Psychological Gardening: Maintaining Your CBT Gains 327

Knowing Your Weeds from Your Flowers 327

Working on Weeds 329

Nipping weeds in the bud 329

Spotting where weeds may grow 330

Dealing with recurrent weeds 332

Tending Your Flowers 333

Planting new varieties 333

Being a compassionate gardener 335

Chapter 23: Working with the Professionals 337

Procuring Professional Help 337

Thinking about the right therapy for you 339

Meeting the experts 340

Tracking Down the Right CBT Therapist for You 342

Asking yourself the right questions 342

Speaking to the specialists 344

Making the Most of CBT 346

Discussing issues during sessions 346

Being active between sessions 347

Part 5: The Part of Tens 351

Chapter 24: Ten Philosophies for Living That Work 353

Assuming Emotional Responsibility: Owning the Way You Feel 353

Thinking Flexibly 354

Valuing Your Individuality 355

Accepting That Life Can Be Unfair 355

Understanding That Approval from Others Isn’t Necessary 356

Realising Love Is Desirable, Not Essential 357

Tolerating Short-Term Discomfort 357

Enacting Enlightened Self-Interest 358

Pursuing Interests and Acting Consistently with Your Values 359

Tolerating Uncertainty 359

Chapter 25: Ten Self-Esteem Boosters That Don’t Work 361

Putting Others Down 362

Thinking You’re Special 362

Trying to Get Everyone to Like You 363

Placing Yourself above Criticism 363

Avoiding Failure, Disapproval, Rejection and Other Animals 364

Avoiding Your Emotions 364

Attempting to Feel More Significant by Controlling Others 365

Over-Defending Your Self-Worth 365

Feeling Superior 365

Blaming Nature or Nurture for Your Problems 366

Chapter 26: Ten Mythical Monsters of Mental Health 367

Psychological Problems Mean You’re Weak 367

I Should Be Able to Get Better on My Own 368

Mental Health Is an Either/Or Issue 368

You Get Better All at Once 368

The Drugs Don’t Work; They Just Make You Worse 369

Certain Types of Psychological Disorders Are Glamorous 370

Mental Illness Is Unpreventable; It’s Just Bad Luck 370

Everyone Can Tell when a Person Has a Mental Illness 371

Having a Mental Illness Means You’re Dangerous 371

Seeking Help Will Go on My Medical Record and Hurt My Future Prospects 372

Part 6: Appendixes 373

Appendix A: Recommended Resources 375

Appendix B: Forms 379

Index 395

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