Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies E-Book

Rhena Branch

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Seitenzahl: 572

Beschreibung

An updated edition of the bestselling guide on reprogramming one's negative thoughts and behaviour Once the province of mental health professionals, CBT (or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) has gained wide acceptance as the treatment of choice for anyone looking to overcome anxiety, manage anger, beat an addiction, lose weight or simply gain a new outlook on life. Written by two CBT therapists, this bestselling guide helps you apply the principles of CBT in your everyday life-allowing you to spot errors in your thinking; tackle toxic thoughts; refocus and retrain your awareness; and finally, stand up to and become free of the fear, depression, anger, and obsessions that have been plaguing you. * Includes tips on establishing ten healthy attitudes for living as well as ten ways to lighten up * Helps you chart a path by defining problems and setting goals * Offers advice on taking a fresh look at your past, overcoming any obstacles to progress as well as ways to maintain your CBT gains * Includes new and refreshed content, including chapters on how to beat an addiction and overcome body image issues With indispensable advice on finding your way out of the debilitating maze of negative thoughts and actions, the book is brimming with invaluable suggestions that will have even a confirmed pessimist well armed for the journey forward.

Leseprobe

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies,® 2nd Edition

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organised

Part I: Introducing CBT Basics

Part II: Charting the Course: Defining Problems and Setting Goals

Part III: Putting CBT into Action

Part IV: Looking Backwards and Moving Forwards

Part V: The Part of Tens

Appendixes

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go From Here

Part I: Introducing CBT Basics

Chapter 1: You Feel the Way You Think

Using Scientifically Tested Methods

Understanding CBT

Combining science, philosophy and behaviour

Progressing from problems to goals

Making the Thought–Feeling Link

Emphasising the meanings you attach to events

Acting out

Learning Your ABCs

Characterising CBT

Chapter 2: Spotting Errors in Your Thinking

Catastrophising: Turning Mountains Back Into Molehills

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

Fortune-Telling: Stepping Away From the Crystal Ball

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

Emotional Reasoning: Reminding Yourself That Feelings Aren’t Facts

Overgeneralising: Avoiding the Part/Whole Error

Labelling: Giving Up the Rating Game

Making Demands: Thinking Flexibly

Mental Filtering: Keeping an Open Mind

Disqualifying the Positive: Keeping the Baby When Throwing Out the Bathwater

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

Personalising: Removing Yourself from the Centre of the Universe

Chapter 3: Tackling Toxic Thoughts

Catching NATs

Making the thought–feeling link

Becoming more objective about your thoughts

Stepping Through the ABC Form I

Creating Constructive Alternatives: Completing the ABC Form II

Chapter 4: Behaving like a Scientist: Designing and Conducting Behavioural Experiments

Seeing for Yourself: Reasons for Doing Behavioural Experiments

Testing Out Predictions

Seeking Evidence to See Which Theory Best Fits the Facts

Conducting Surveys

Making Observations

Ensuring Successful Behavioural Experiments

Keeping Records of Your Experiments

Chapter 5: Pay Attention! Refocusing and Retraining Your Awareness

Training in Task Concentration

Choosing to concentrate

Tuning in to tasks and the world around you

Tackling the task concentration record sheet

Becoming More Mindful

Being present in the moment

Letting your thoughts pass by

Discerning when not to listen to yourself

Incorporating mindful daily tasks

Tolerating upsetting images and unpleasant ideas

Part II: Charting the Course: Defining Problems and Setting Goals

Chapter 6: Exploring Emotions

Naming Your Feelings

Thinking What to Feel

Understanding the Anatomy of Emotions

Comparing Healthy and Unhealthy Emotions

Spotting the difference in thinking

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

Spotting the difference in what you focus on

Spotting Similarities in Your Physical Sensations

Identifying Feelings about Feelings

Defining Your Emotional Problems

Making a statement

Rating your emotional problem

Chapter 7: Identifying Solutions That Cause You Problems

When Feeling Better Can Make Your Problems Worse

Getting Over Depression without Getting Yourself Down

Loosening Your Grip on Control

Feeling Secure in an Uncertain World

Surmounting the Side Effects of Excessive Safety-Seeking

Wending Your Way Out of Worry

Preventing the Perpetuation of Your Problems

Helping Yourself: Putting the Petals on Your Vicious Flower

Chapter 8: Setting Your Sights on Goals

Putting SPORT into Your Goals

Homing In on How You Want to Be Different

Setting goals in relation to your current problems

Making a statement

Maximising Your Motivation

Identifying inspiration for change

Focusing on the benefits of change

Completing a cost–benefit analysis

Recording your progress

Part III: Putting CBT into Action

Chapter 9: Standing Up to Anxiety and Facing Fear

Acquiring Anti-Anxiety Attitudes

Thinking realistically about the probability of bad events

Avoiding extreme thinking

Taking the fear out of fear

Attacking Anxiety

Winning by not fighting

Defeating fear with FEAR

Repeatedly confronting your fears

Keeping your exposure challenging but not overwhelming

Shedding safety behaviours

Recording your fear-fighting

Overriding Common Anxieties

Socking it to social anxiety

Waging war on worry

Pounding on panic

Assaulting agoraphobia

Dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder

Hitting back at fear of heights

Chapter 10: Abolishing Addictions

Putting a Name to Your Problem

Familiarising Yourself with the Many Faces of Addiction

Accepting Yourself and Your Addiction

Securing Suitable Support

Deciding to Desist

Counting the costs

Being honest about the benefits

Transforming Intention into Action

Making a date

Cruising through cravings

Extending the time between urge and action

Dealing with deprivation

Putting positive obstacles in place

Leaving nothing to chance

Creating constructive conditions for continued recovery

Cleaning house

Taking up supportive socialising

Planning to Prevent Relapse

Chapter 11: Beating Body Image Blues

Making Friends with the Mirror

Do I have a serious body image problem?

Do I have an eating disorder?

Considering hypothetical cases

Taking Advertising and Media Messages with a Pinch of Salt

Recognising your own body image issues

Accepting yourself

Seeing yourself as a whole person

Saluting your Body for Services Rendered

Enjoying scintillating sensations

Doing your daily duties

Valuing your vehicle for experience

Choosing to Change for all the Right Reasons

Highlighting health

Maximising enjoyment

Bringing out your best

Being daring

Chapter 12: Deconstructing and Demolishing Depression

Understanding the Nature of Depression

Looking at what Fuels Depression

Going Round and Round in Your Head: Ruminative Thinking

Catching yourself in the act

Arresting ruminations before they arrest you

Activating Yourself as an Antidepressant

Tackling inactivity

Dealing with the here and now: Solving problems

Taking care of yourself and your environment

Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

Setting realistic sleep expectations

Making your bedroom oh so cosy

ACTing against Depression

Practising acceptance

Considering compassion

Obtaining a new outlook

Managing Suicidal Thoughts

Chapter 13: Overcoming Obsessions

Identifying and Understanding Obsessional Problems

Understanding obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Recognising health anxiety

Understanding body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)

Identifying Unhelpful Behaviours

Acquiring Anti-Obsessional Attitudes

Tolerating doubt and uncertainty

Trusting your judgement

Treating your thoughts as nothing more than thoughts

Being flexible and not trying too hard

Using external and practical criteria

Allowing your mind and body to do their own things

Normalising physical sensations and imperfections

Facing Your Fears: Reducing (and Stopping) Rituals

Putting up firm resistance

Delaying and modifying rituals

Being Realistic about Responsibility

Dividing up your responsibility pie

Retraining your attention

Chapter 14: Overcoming Low Self-esteem and Accepting Yourself

Identifying Issues of Self-Esteem

Developing Self-Acceptance

Understanding that you have worth because you’re human

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

Acknowledging your ever-changing nature

Accepting your fallible nature

Valuing your uniqueness

Using self-acceptance to aid self-improvement

Understanding that acceptance doesn’t mean giving up

Being Inspired to Change

Actioning Self-Acceptance

Self-talking your way to self-acceptance

Following the best-friend argument

Dealing with doubts and reservations

Selecting the Self-Help Journey to Self-Acceptance

Chapter 15: Cooling Down Your Anger

Discerning the Difference between Healthy and Unhealthy Anger

Key characteristics of unhealthy anger

Hallmarks of healthy anger

Assembling Attitudes That Underpin Healthy Anger

Putting up with other people

Forming flexible preferences

Accepting other people as fallible human beings

Accepting yourself

Developing high frustration tolerance

Pondering the pros and cons of your temper

Imparting Your Indignation in a Healthy Way

Asserting yourself effectively

Coping with criticism

Using the disarming technique

Acting Assertively in the Workplace

Putting your point across positively

Remaining professional

Dealing with Difficulties in Overcoming Anger

Part IV: Looking Backwards and Moving Forwards

Chapter 16: Taking a Fresh Look at Your Past

Exploring How Your Past Can Influence Your Present

Identifying Your Core Beliefs

Introducing the three camps of core beliefs

Seeing how your core beliefs interact

Detecting Your Core Beliefs

Following a downward arrow

Picking up clues from your dreaming and screaming

Tracking themes

Filling in the blanks

Understanding the Impact of Core Beliefs

Spotting when you are acting according to old rules and beliefs

Understanding that unhealthy core beliefs make you prejudiced

Making a Formulation of Your Beliefs

Limiting the Damage: Being Aware of Core Beliefs

Developing Alternatives to Your Core Beliefs

Revisiting history

Starting from scratch

Chapter 17: Moving New Beliefs from Your Head to Your Heart

Defining the Beliefs You Want to Strengthen

Acting As If You Already Believe

Building a Portfolio of Arguments

Generating arguments against an unhelpful belief

Generating arguments to support your helpful alternative belief

Understanding That Practice Makes Imperfect

Dealing with your doubts and reservations

Zigging and zagging through the zigzag technique

Putting your new beliefs to the test

Nurturing Your New Beliefs

Chapter 18: Heading for a Healthier and Happier Life

Planning to Prevent Relapse

Filling In the Gaps

Choosing absorbing activities

Matchmaking your pursuits

Putting personal pampering into practice

Overhauling Your Lifestyle

Walking the walk

Talking the talk

Getting intimate

Living in Line with Your Values

Reflecting your values through action

Staying focused on what’s most important

Reshuffling priorities

Chapter 19: Overcoming Obstacles to Progress

Tackling Emotions That Get in the Way of Change

Shifting shame

Getting rid of guilt

Putting aside pride

Seeking support

Trying a little tenderness

Adopting Positive Principles That Promote Progress

Understanding that simple doesn’t mean easy

Being optimistic about getting better

Staying focused on your goals

Persevering and repeating

Tackling Task-Interfering Thoughts

Chapter 20: Psychological Gardening: Maintaining Your CBT Gains

Knowing Your Weeds from Your Flowers

Working on Weeds

Nipping weeds in the bud

Spotting where weeds may grow

Dealing with recurrent weeds

Tending Your Flowers

Planting new varieties

Being a compassionate gardener

Chapter 21: Working with the Professionals

Procuring Professional Help

Thinking about the right therapy for you

Meeting the experts

Tracking Down the Right CBT Therapist for You

Asking yourself the right questions

Speaking to the specialists

Making the Most of CBT

Discussing issues during sessions

Being active between sessions

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 22: Ten Healthy Attitudes for Living

Assuming Emotional Responsibility: You Feel the Way You Think

Thinking Flexibly

Valuing Your Individuality

Accepting That Life Can Be Unfair

Understanding That Approval from Others Isn’t Necessary

Realising Love’s Desirable, Not Essential

Tolerating Short-Term Discomfort

Enacting Enlightened Self-Interest

Pursuing Interests and Acting Consistently with Your Values

Tolerating Uncertainty

Chapter 23: Ten Self-Esteem Boosters That Don’t Work

Putting Others Down

Thinking You’re Special

Trying to Get Everyone to Like You

Placing Yourself above Criticism

Avoiding Failure, Disapproval, Rejection and Other Animals

Avoiding Your Emotions

Attempting to Feel More Significant by Controlling Others

Over-Defending Your Self-Worth

Feeling Superior

Blaming Nature or Nurture for Your Problems

Chapter 24: Ten Ways to Lighten Up

Accept That You Can – and Will – Make Mistakes

Try Something New

Stamp on Shame

Laugh at Yourself

Don’t Take Offence So Easily

Make Good Use of Criticism

Settle into Social Situations

Encourage Your Creativity to Flow

Act Adventurously

Enjoy Yourself: It’s Later than You Think

Chapter 25: Ten Books to Add to Your Library

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Workbook For Dummies

Boosting Self-Esteem For Dummies

Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders

The Mindful Way Through Depression – Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness

Flow

Overcoming . . .

Overcoming Anger

Oxford Guide to Behavioural Experiments in Cognitive Therapy

Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy

The Cognitive Behaviour Counselling Primer

Appendix A: CBT Resources

CBT therapists

Other therapists

Online support

Organisations

Appendix B: Forms

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies,® 2nd Edition

by Rhena Branch and Rob Willson

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies,® 2nd Edition

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About the Authors

Rhena Branch, MSc, Dip CBT, is an accredited CBT therapist and holds a post-graduate clinical supervision qualification. Rhena runs a private practice with offices in North and Central London. She also teaches and supervises on the MSc course in CBT/REBT at Goldsmith’s College, University of London. Rhena treats general psychiatric disorders and has a special interest in eating disorders. CBT for Dummies (second edition) is Rhena’s fifth publication and she currently has two further books in press.

Rob Willson, BSc, MSc, Dip SBHS, currently divides the majority of his work time between private practice and conducting research on Body Dysmorphic Disorder at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. Previously he spent twelve years working at the Priory Hospital, North London where he was a therapist and therapy services manager. He also trained numerous CBT therapists over a seven-year period at Goldsmith’s College, University of London. Rob’s main clinical interests are anxiety and obsessional problems, and disseminating CBT principles through self-help. He has made several TV appearances including in the BBC documentary ‘Too Ugly for Love’.

Dedication

For Felix and Atticus (from Rhena)

For Emma and Lucy (from Rob)

Authors’ Acknowledgments

From Rhena: It’s great to have the opportunity to produce a second edition of this book. My thanks to everyone involved at Wiley for your support and expert guidance throughout.

Thanks to Rob for your input into this and other projects.

Immense gratitude as always to my boys, for everything.

From Rob: I am grateful to Wiley for approaching (and eventually persuading) me to take on the first edition of CBT for Dummies, I know it has made CBT more accessible for many people. I would like to thank huge number of clients, clinicians, trainees, people interested in CBT, and people courageous enough to embark upon a course of self-help, not only for purchasing the first edition but also for giving so much positive feedback about the book.

Thanks to Rhena for her revisions and driving this second edition forward.

From both of us: Many researchers, fellow therapists and authors have influenced our understanding and practice of CBT over the years and therefore the content in this book. Founding fathers, Albert Ellis and Aaron T. Beck, of course merit special mention. Others include (in no specific order): Ray DiGiuseppe, Mary-Anne Layden, Jacqueline Persons, David A. Clarke, Adrian Wells, Stanley Rachman, Paul Salkovskis, Christine Padesky, Michael Neenan, David Veale, David M. Clark, David Burns, Kevin Gournay and many more. Special thanks goes to Windy Dryden for his extensive writings and for teaching us both so much.

Finally, a genuine thank you to all our clients (past and present) for allowing us to get to know you and learn from you.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

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Introduction

Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, is growing in popularity as an efficient and long lasting treatment for many different types of psychological problem. If the word ‘psychological’ sends you running from the room screaming, try to consider the term referring to problems that affect your emotional rather than your physical sense of wellbeing. At some point in your life, something’s going to go a bit wrong with your body. So why on earth do humans assume that their minds and emotions should be above the odd hiccup, upset, or even more serious difficulty?

This book gives you a comprehensive introduction to the theory and application of CBT techniques. Although we don’t have the space to go into nitty-gritty specifics about how to use CBT to overcome every type of emotional or psychological problem, we do try to lead you in a helpful direction. We believe all the CBT principles and strategies outlined in this book can improve your life and help you to stay healthy, regardless of whether you’ve worked with or are currently working with a psychiatrist or other psychological professional.

In addition, whether you think your problems are minimal, you’re living the life of Riley, you feel mildly depressed, or you’ve had years of uncomfortable psychological symptoms, CBT can help you. We ask you to be open-minded and to use the stuff in this book to make your life better and fuller.

About This Book

If you’re embarking on a journey of self-help or self-improvement, we hope that this book provides a useful introduction to CBT techniques and will be of benefit to you. Depending on the degree of disruption and distress that your personal difficulties are causing you, this book may or may not be enough treatment to help you recover. The book may spur you on to get further help (Chapter 19 has more on seeking professional help) to really knock your emotional demons on the head. This book covers the following:

The basics of using CBT as a scientifically tested and verified psychotherapeutic method of overcoming common emotional problems.

Ways in which you can identify your problems and set specific goals for how you would rather be living your life.

Techniques to identify errors in the way you may be thinking and to adopt more helpful thoughts, attitudes, philosophies, and beliefs.

Behavioural experiments and strategies you can incorporate into your life to improve your day-to-day functioning.

Information that can help you to understand, normalise, and address some common human problems. You may think that you’re the only person in the world who feels and thinks the way you do. This book shows you that many of the problems you may be experiencing such as depression, anxiety, anger, and obsessions are in fact very common. You are not alone.

We hope that the whole experience will be at least a little entertaining in the process. So read on, welcome new concepts, and consider trying some of the ideas we offer in the book.

Conventions Used in This Book

To make your reading experience easier and to alert you to key words or points, we use certain conventions.

Italics introduce new terms, underscore key differences in meaning between words, and highlight the most important aspects of a sentence or example.

We use the terms ‘him’ in even-numbered chapters and ‘her’ in odd-numbered chapters when writing, with a view to incorporate gender equality.

The case studies in the book are illustrative of actual clients we have treated and are not direct representations of any particular clients.

Bold text is used to show the action part of numbered lists.

What You’re Not to Read

This book is written in a rough order to help you progress from the basics of CBT on to more complex techniques and ideas. However, you can read the chapters in any order you like or just hit on the ones that cover subjects you think you want to know more about.

To make your reading experience even easier, we identify ‘skippable’ material:

Sidebars: Within most chapters, we include sidebars of shaded text. These sidebars contain interesting titbits of information or occasionally expand on a topic within the chapter. Read them if they sound interesting to you and skip them if they don’t.

Our acknowledgements: Probably pretty boring to the average reader.

Foolish Assumptions

In writing this little tome, we make the following assumptions about you, dear reader:

You’re human.

As a human, you’re likely at some stage in your life to experience some sort of emotional problem that you’d like to surmount.

You’ve heard about CBT, or are intrigued by CBT, or have had CBT suggested to you by a doctor, friend, or mental health professional as a possible treatment for your specific difficulties.

Even if you don’t think you’re particularly in need of CBT right now, you want to discover more about some of the principles outlined in this book.

You think that your life is absolutely fine right now, but you want to find interesting and useful information in the book that will enhance your life further.

You’re keen to find out whether CBT may be helpful to someone close to you.

You’re studying CBT and want to use this book as a ‘hands on’ adjunct to your training.

How This Book Is Organised

This book is divided into five parts and 25 chapters. The table of contents lists subheadings with more information about every chapter, but the following describes the major sections of the book.

Part I: Introducing CBT Basics

This part gives you a pretty good idea about what CBT consists of and how the techniques differs from other forms of psychotherapy. ‘You think how you feel’ is a good way of summing up CBT, and the chapters in this part expand on this simple idea. We explain common thinking errors as well as ways to counteract skewed thinking. You discover the basic CBT model of emotional disturbance and find out more about how you can make positive changes, even when your circumstances and other people in your life are unlikely to change for the better.

Part II: Charting the Course: Defining Problems and Setting Goals

This part helps you to define your emotional problems more accurately, see where your problems are springing from, and develop solid goals for your emotional future. Some of your valiant attempts to deal with your worries, terrors, and ideas about yourself are frequently counterproductive in the long term. These chapters explore this notion and give you ideas about more productive alternative strategies to produce long-term benefits.

Part III: Putting CBT into Action

Actions speak louder than words, and believe us when we say that actions also produce better results than words alone. Correcting your thinking is an important endeavour, but all your efforts to think healthily can fall apart at the seams unless you translate new beliefs into new action. The chapters in this part set out some good ways to test your new ways of thinking, strengthen healthy new beliefs, and promote helpful emotional responses to life, the universe, and everything else. If you don’t believe us, try out the ideas for yourself! We also explore some common human difficulties such as anxiety and obsessional problems, addictions and poor body image.

Part IV: Looking Backwards and Moving Forwards

‘But CBT ignores my past!’ is an oft-heard complaint by individuals new to CBT. So we’re here to tell you that CBT does not ignore your past. Yes, CBT concentrates on how your current thinking and behaviour cause your current difficulties. This part aids you in recognising experiences from your past that may have led you to form certain types of beliefs about yourself, other people, and the world around you. Assigning updated, helpful, and more accurate meanings to past events really can make a difference to the way you experience life today. So read on!

Part V: The Part of Tens

This section of the book is part fun and part solid CBT stuff. Looking here first can help you connect to other parts of the book and provide quick and easy tips for healthier living, boosting your self-esteem the right way, and lightening up your attitudes towards yourself and life in general.

Appendixes

Appendix A gives you a list of useful organisations and Web sites that you may wish to investigate.

Throughout the book, we refer to and explain various forms and CBT tools that may be helpful to you. Appendix B provides you with blank forms to photocopy at will and use to your heart’s delight.

Icons Used in This Book

We use the following icons in this book to alert you to certain types of information that you can choose to read, commit to memory (and possibly interject into dinner party conversation), or maybe just utterly ignore:

This icon highlights practical advice for putting CBT into practice.

This icon is a cheerful, if sometimes urgent, reminder of important points to take notice of.

This icon marks out specific things to avoid or possible traps to keep your eye open for in your quest for better emotional health.

This icon highlights CBT terminology that may sound a bit like psychobabble but is commonly used by CBT practitioners.

This icon alerts you to stuff that has a bit of a philosophical basis and may need some mulling over in your spare time.

This icon indicates a CBT technique that you can try out in real life to see what results you get.

Where to Go From Here

We’d really like you to read everything in this book and then recommend it to all your friends and random people you meet on the street. Failing that, just use this book as your reference guide to CBT, dipping in and out of it as and when you need to.

Have a browse through the table of contents and turn to the chapters that look as if they may offer something helpful to you and your current difficulties.

When you’ve used the book in one way or another, you may decide that you want to get stuck into CBT treatment with a therapist. If so, consult Chapter 19 for more advice on getting treatment.

Part I

Introducing CBT Basics

In this part . . .

You’ll get to grips with what CBT stand for and why it’s such a hot topic among mental health professionals. You’ll get a good idea of how your thinking about events leads to how you feel. We’ll get you started on recognising and tackling your negative thought patterns, and give you some tips about exerting control over your attention.

Chapter 1

You Feel the Way You Think

In This Chapter

Defining CBT

Exploring the power of meanings

Understanding how your thoughts lead to emotions and behaviours

Getting acquainted with the ABC formula

Cognitive behavioural therapy – more commonly referred to as CBT – focuses on the way people think and act to help them with their emotional and behavioural problems.

Many of the effective CBT practices we discuss in this book should seem like everyday good sense. In our opinion, CBT does have some very straightforward and clear principles and is a largely sensible and practical approach to helping people overcome problems. However, human beings don’t always act according to sensible principles, and most people find that simple solutions can be very difficult to put into practice sometimes. CBT can maximise on your common sense and help you to do the healthy things that you may sometimes do naturally and unthinkingly in a deliberate and self-enhancing way on a regular basis.

In this chapter we take you through the basic principles of CBT and show you how to use these principles to better understand yourself and your problems.