David D. Burns
David D. Burns
David D. Burnsis an adjunct professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the author of the best-selling books Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy and The Feeling Good Handbook. Burns popularized Aaron T. Beck's cognitive behavioral therapywhen his book became a best seller during the 1980s...
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fear perfection humans
Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.
suffering way would-be
What sentence will you choose to impose on yourself? Are you willing to stop suffering and making yourself miserable when your sentence has expired? This would at least be a responsible way to punish yourself because it would be time-limited.
depression trying bad-mood
Every time you feel depressed about something, try to identify a corresponding negative thought you had just prior to and during the depression. Because these thoughts have actually created your bad mood, by learning to restructure them, you can change your mood.
mistake hate two
Can you predict the future with absolute certainty? Your answer must be no. You have two options: You can either decide to accept yourself as an imperfect human being with limited knowledge and realize that you will at times make mistakes, or you can hate yourself for it.
mistake acceptance perfection
Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can't accept your imperfections, that's their fault.
break staying town
We're staying in town tonight, where should we go party? ... We haven't had a break in so long.
creative
Be funny, be daring, and be as creative as possible, ... Embarrassment is only in your minds; it's not really happening.
absolutely delighted heart horrible patient rare session three wonderful
It's very rare to have a patient who isn't absolutely delighted when you say, 'I read your feedback. The session didn't go well. You actually got more upset, and I made about three really horrible errors.' If you do that from the heart and not as a gimmick, boy, it's a wonderful thing.
amazed behavioral cognitive developed few good heard interest people published since therapy time
I have been amazed by the interest in cognitive behavioral therapy that has developed since 'Feeling Good' was first published in 1980. At that time, very few people had heard of cognitive therapy.
schools since
There is no standard 'therapeutic process,' since there are so many different schools of therapy.
change patients
What saddens me is seeing patients who have been going to therapy for years and years with no change, but they keep going to the same therapist. To me, that's not right.
apply cognitive cope depression eliminate experience future growth help learn minimize mood personal symptoms technology therapy upsets
Cognitive therapy is a fast-acting technology of mood modification that you can learn to apply on your own. It can help you eliminate the symptoms and experience personal growth so you can minimize future upsets and cope with depression more effectively in the future.
addition although cognitive disorders helpful indicate studies therapy treatment variety
Although no one treatment will ever be a panacea, research studies indicate that cognitive therapy can be helpful for a variety of disorders in addition to depression.
beings concept errors experts human knew rather supposed therapists therapy ultimate universal
There is no 'ultimate goal of therapy.' Thinking there is some ultimate or universal goal of therapy is one of the most fundamental errors of our field. To me, that concept is rather arrogant, as if therapists were some kind of spiritual experts who knew what human beings are supposed to be like.