Mastering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Strategies for Overcoming Anxiety, Depression, Borderline Personality Disorder, PTSD and Trauma

by Michael Garron

Cognitive psychology is a study that focuses on how the human brain works. It concentrates on what inspires people to act in certain ways and behave. Instead of looking at the events surrounding what may cause a person to act in certain ways, cognitive psychology looks into what causes the mind to act as it does. This is about how people associate certain concepts with different values or ideas that they might hold. Through the use of cognitive behavioral therapy, people can find ways to keep their mental faculties in check. This includes understanding what can be done to resolve problems and issues in one's life. This guide explains how cognitive behavioral therapy can be utilized to control fears, depression, anger, and other common problems that may persist in one's life. With cognitive psychology, people can do more with their lives and know what they can do to manage their attitudes.

Genres: Psychology

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2018

Reviews

[Stephanie H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who suffers from depression and multiple forms of anxiety, this book definitely comes in handy, especially as more stress enters my life and becomes too much for me to handle. I’ve tried medication and, while they certainly help take the edge off, they just aren’t enough for me to fully control my mental health issues. Cognitive behavioral therapy, though, deals with the root of the problem, the emotions and associations themselves and the experiences/memories which have created those emotions and associations. Even better for me is that a lot of the therapy, such as identifying the memories behind the associations, is stuff that I do anyway; this book just gives a structured approach which will help me use this self-analysis to improve my condition.

I have to warn others that this read can be quite dense. In the beginning in particular, I had a hard time making it through Garron’s writing because there was just so much information and some of it seemed repetitive. However, that’s just a necessary evil as we need to understand what we are doing and why in order to get the most out of this book. I also had a little problem with Garron’s writing style. Namely, whenever he uses “person”, he then uses “one’s” as the possessive form when, technically, “one” is a more formal/general replacement for “you”. For me, that created an awkward read. Still, it’s worth noting that I’m an English major and so this probably won’t bother most readers.

All in all, this book is great for people suffering from emotional issues and mental illness. It’s not a one-and-done read nor is it an overnight fix to your problems. However, it is a very detailed guide to creating your own cognitive behavioral therapy treatment, whether it’s on your own or with the help of a professional therapist. Garron explores several avenues for several kinds of emotional and mental health problems, so it’s also fairly easy to personalize the approach for your specific situation. Regardless, it’s important for the reader to remember that results will vary and that this therapy alone might not be enough. As Garron so wisely points out, when it comes to the human mind, there is no such thing as one size fits all.