More on Cognitive Therapy

COGNITIVE THERAPY (or "Cognitive Restructuring")--AARON BECK, et al.

OUTCOMES

* Best evidence of any approach for dealing with depression (including persons who are suicidal).

* Strong evidence of effectiveness in dealing with anxiety and panic disorders.

* Scattered evidence of success in many other applications.

IMPORTANT TYPES OF COGNITIVE BIASES IN DEPRESSION & OTHER DISORDERS

* NEGATIVE BIAS--a tendency to look at the more negative side.

> Perception of Events (past, present, etc) (Eg. See "dark" side.)

> Expectation of outcomes for self/world (Eg. Pessimistic)

> Self-evaluations (Eg. Very self-critical)

> Negative explanations (Eg. Assume worst of peoples motives)

INSTEAD--I will think:

> I will be happier and more motivated if I assume the best.

> If I make a mistake in the direction of being too negative I will have worried and been negative for nothing. If I make a mistake in the direction of being too positive, at least I will have been happy and motivated up until the time I found out the truth. Even then I can deal with the negative events.

> Positive self-fulfilling prophesies tend to create positive outcomes and negative self-fulfilling prophesies tend to create negative outcomes.

> Negative self-evaluation leads to depression, guilt, anxiety, or frustration. It is de-motivating and unproductive in meeting my goals and making me happy. Positive self-motivation creates energy, direction, and happiness.

> Negative explainations of my own or other peoples "underlying motives" cause me to intensify my anger or other negative feelings toward that person. It builds conflict, distance, and animosity in relationships. Assuming the best, is more often accurate with those we are close to, and builds harmony, trust, and closeness.

> Assuming the world is a hostile, unfriendly, negative place creates feelings of fear, anxiety, and anger toward. Viewing the world as more positive and accepting even the worst as necessary and out of my control gives me a feeling of peace and acceptance of the world.

> If I view my current state as deprived, unfair, and not begin given the opportunties others have had, then I will be constantly resentful and unhappy. If I view my current state as being a gift that I was not "owed", and am grateful for all I have and every minute of my existence, then I will feel happy.

* SELECTIVE ABSTRACTION--Taking negative features of a situation out of context and exaggerating their significance while downplaying positive features. Eg. If a Sam gets 4 "A"s and one "C", he focuses on the "C".

> I will list at least one positive for each negative.

* OVERGENERALIZATION (or magnification)--assuming far-reaching conclusions from very limited data. For example, making an "F" on a test and getting thoughts of how you will flunk the entire course, flunk out of school, and how you are a very stupid person.

INSTEAD:

> I will put the negative event into its proper perspective.

> I will step into the future one or more years and look back and see how important this event really was.

> I can keep "blowing" up this event until it becomes ridiculous and I can see how ridiculous "overgeneralizing" really is.

* THINKING IN EXTREMES--exaggerating differences. Everything is either good or bad, wonderful or awful, always or never. A person who thinks this way often uses this radical categorization of their own and other persons behavior--leading to exaggerated emotional reactions.

> I will learn to realize that there are no "NEVER", "ALWAYS", 100% your fault or my fault events. Instead I will always try to be accurate in balancing out "causation" or "blame". If I state an absolute, I will immediately begin LOOKING FOR EXCEPTIONS to that rule, not find more supporting evidence.

This information if from Dr. Tom Stevens. Check out his website by clicking on the title of this blog. He is one of the developers of Spiritual Cognitive Therapy, which is the direction I am going.