It is important to become aware of specific fears and to stop running from them. The continual chase actually gives anxiety more power. A certain amount of objectivity about oneself and the mental and emotional processes that occur on a daily basis is necessary to become aware of fear. This detachment is…
What Is Depression?
According to Barsky and Deans, authors of Stop Being Your Symptoms and Start Being Yourself, depression is the experience of feeling sad for two weeks or longer with an accompanying loss of interest in life around you. Former hobbies and interests are set aside, and social contacts are dimin-ished. The…
How to Find a Good Cognitive Behavioral Therapist
One of the first criteria for selecting a therapist is whether or not you like the person. Do you feel comfortable? Do you imagine that you could talk about difficult things and cooperate with this individual? There has to be that feeling of esprit de corps or you will be wasting your…
Moment-by-Moment Mindfulness
CBT clinicians have found that techniques drawn from centuries-old Eastern philosophies are helpful in quieting an overactive mind. A deliberate combination of breathing, meditation, and acceptance of a situation greatly quiets a person, often leading to much improved feelings and even manifestation of better outer circumstances. Deepak Chopra has written extensively about…
How can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Help?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a type of psychosocial therapy that assumes the individual seeking treatment has maladaptive, or counterproductive, thinking patterns, which in turn cause maladaptive behavior and “negative” emotions. This type of therapy involves education, skill-building, and problem-solving. It may or may not be accompanied by medication. These maladaptive behaviors are…
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Have you ever felt hopeless, like you are forever caught in a quagmire of mental spins that lead you nowhere, except to unhappiness and more hopelessness? Do you find yourself acquiring more and more labels for the various things wrong with you and continuously revisiting traumatic aspects of your past? Life doesn’t…