Ultimately, the ability to take risks and tolerate the uncertainty that accompanies them is the point of therapy. When struggling … More
Tag: CBT
We’re All Hypocrites: How Our Unacknowledged Beliefs about Perfection and Success Make Us Depressed
We often tell ourselves one thing and do another. This common phenomenon, often referred to as hypocrisy, is shared by … More
The False Beliefs of the Grass is Greener Syndrome: Why Settling Can Be Good for You
On the episode “Mind and the Matter” of The Twilight Zone, the protagonist, Archibald Beechcrot, a misanthrope, wills humanity’s disappearance. … More
Why Does Therapy Take So Long?: Examining the Difficulty of Overcoming Unhealthy Habits of Thinking
In the documentary Most Likely to Succeed, which follows several high-achieving, college students throughout their collegiate careers, Peter, the brilliant … More
Reconceptualizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: How Changing the Way We View Distorted Thinking Can Help Us Heal (Revised)
My clients, especially the heterosexual males, conceive of therapy as a training ground, as a means of discipline and mastery. … More
No Form of Success Can Ever Make You Feel Good Enough: How Our Thoughts Distort Our Accomplishments
When we seek out success, we sometimes search for purity. The worst thing that a high achiever can hear is, … More
Displaced Anger: How We Can Stop Blaming Others for Our Negative Thoughts and Emotions
If maturity is anything, it’s a mastery of one’s emotions. The other day, someone told me a story about how … More
You’re Both a Success and a Failure: How You Can Begin to Unlearn Self-Blame and Abuse
Life is often viewed as a series of attempts and successes and failures, which we allow to define us throughout … More
The Power of Forgiveness in Stoic Philosophy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The Stoic philosopher, Seneca, wrote: “The spirit ought to be brought up for examination daily… I pass the whole day … More
In Defense of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Against Depressive Realism
Words matter. When we’re happy, we’re more likely to uncritically internalize positive feedback; and when we’re sad, or depressed, more … More
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