- ISBN: 9781119601128 | 1119601126
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 12/5/2019
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
What is included with this book?
The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.
The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.
Please wait while the item is added to your bag...
×
Digital License
You are licensing a digital product for a set duration. Durations are set forth in the product description, with "Lifetime" typically meaning five (5) years of online access and permanent download to a supported device. All licenses are non-transferable.
More details can be found here.