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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT for short, is often cited as the gold standard of psychotherapy. Its techniques allow you to identify the negative thought processes that hold you back and exchange them for new, productive ones that can change your life. Increasingly popular among healthcare professionals, the CBT approach can be used by anyone to overcome common problems ranging from depression or anxiety to more complex disorders like OCD, PTSD, and addiction. CBT can also be used to simply developing a healthier, more productive outlook on life.
This book shows you how you can easily incorporate the techniques of CBT into your day-to-day life and produce tangible results. You'll learn how to take your negative thoughts to boot camp and retrain them, establishing new habits that tackle your toxic thoughts and retool your awareness, allowing you be free of the weight of past negative thinking biases.
Move Take a fresh look at your past and maybe even overcome it. Mellow Relax yourself through techniques that reduce anger and stress. Lighten Hear practical advice on healthy attitudes for living and ways to nourish optimism. Look Discover how to overcome low self-esteem and body image issues.
This book shows you how you can easily incorporate the techniques of CBT into your day-to-day life and produce tangible results. You'll learn how to take your negative thoughts to boot camp and retrain them, establishing new habits that tackle your toxic thoughts and retool your awareness, allowing you be free of the weight of past negative thinking biases.
Move Take a fresh look at your past and maybe even overcome it. Mellow Relax yourself through techniques that reduce anger and stress. Lighten Hear practical advice on healthy attitudes for living and ways to nourish optimism. Look Discover how to overcome low self-esteem and body image issues.
330 pages, Paperback
First published February 17, 2005
550 people are currently reading
2642 people want to read
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February 18, 2013
A Practical Toolkit for Living, Liking and Loving
I found this book insightful and learned a lot from it.
I will try to integrate what I learned into how I think and live my life.
The book is well-structured, well-written and easy to understand.
CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) argues that our thinking informs and shapes our behaviour, and that flaws in our thinking (often the product of poor self-esteem) can distort our behaviour.
This in turn has a detrimental effect on our self-esteem, which completes a vicious cycle of misguided behaviour.
The book argues that we can correct our behaviour by correcting our thinking.
If it has a defect, it is that it tends to be repetitious. However, this is a result of the stylistic choice to design and define an abstract toolkit, before applying it to specific issues and problems that we confront in real life.
The repetition therefore reinforces our understanding of the toolkit and our ability to apply it practically.
Valuable Advice
Any person who seeks to benefit from the CBT toolkit will probably have to dovetail it into a system of abstract core values that they might have developed over a long period of time.
This can be a barrier to the process.
The starting point of my personal and political philosophy is that we are individuals.
However, we form relationships with others in the personal, family, social, work and political spheres.
Our first duty and relationship is to our self.
However, we then enter into a zone or space between us and others.
In any of these zones, we can be nervous, cautious, earnest, serious, relaxed, rigid, flexible, spontaneous, playful, flirtatious, exuberant, private, open, careful, careless.
We assert, argue, persuade, charm, play, flirt, seduce, compromise, cooperate, agree, consummate, like, love, respect, value, care, nurture.
The nature of our relationships is not static. As we get to know somebody, our relationship can change, improve and loosen up.
For any relationship to become more relaxed and spontaneous, it needs to be built on the foundation of certainty. This can only come with some level of mutuality and confidence in the relationship.
The desire for certainty and spontaneity needs to be reciprocated. It's a two way street. It needs two people to be committed. It needs to be based on some shared desire or values.
The hard part is determining whether we share this desire and these values.
We can only find out by asking and talking about it. We can't find out by denying an arena for the discussion or failing to respond to questions.
In fact, when you cut off communication, you are making a strong case that there is no shared foundation.
Harmony and Me are Pretty Good Company
In the western world, we tend to approach our other relationships from the perspective of individualism.
Within the political framework of liberty, equality and fraternity, we tend to emphasise our individual freedom.
Unlike the East, we tend to downplay fraternity or what can also be described as harmony.
However, harmony is at the heart of our relationships with others.
CBT is concerned with the impact of these relationships on individuals.
However, it doesn't address the issues or problems in the political language of rights and obligations.
It examines them from an individual personal perspective.
It assumes that we act selfishly in our own self-interest.
Similarly, it assumes that others in our lives act in their own self-interest.
It doesn't assume that harmony is the natural order.
Instead, it assumes that we might act at cross-purposes, and that problems will arise when our self-interest pulls us in opposite directions.
That doesn't mean that other people actually dislike or hate us. They might just be totally neutral about us.
If they fail to like or love us, it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with us. We just have to learn how to cope or deal with it.
The important thing is that we not undermine our own self-esteem, because somebody else fails to display respect, affection or love.
It's as Easy as A, B, C
CBT uses our intelligence, cognition or rationality to minimise or manage our emotional problems.
It recognises that many of our problems are caused by the way we draw inferences from circumstances or the behaviour of others.
It uses a simple A, B, C approach.
A is the circumstance or behaviour that concerns us, while C is our emotional response to it.
B is the inference we draw from A. It causes our emotional response in C.
Almost inevitably, our self-esteem problems derive from the fact that we draw just one inference and it is the most negative.
So CBT's solution is simply to get us to logically draw additional inferences.
Just by virtue of having other options to explain A, we can minimise or manage the tendency to draw the most negative inference.
This solution has a simple appeal. However, it reflects a faith in rationality. In effect, it asks us to be more rational in how we deal with our emotions.
While I agree with this approach, to some, it must be paradoxical.
Reason and Emotion
My personal life challenge has been how to get reason and emotion to sit happily in the one person, how to let them work as a three-legged race, rather than always be at loggerheads.
I have been professionally trained in logic and analysis. I had to think of all of the possibilities, weigh them up dispassionately and facilitate a decision.
Note that I say that I had to facilitate a decision. The decision was usually not mine, it was a client's. I am in the business of giving advice; the client has to make the decision.
Good Judgement
Very early in my professional life, I realised that clients want you to make their decision easy for them. They want you to recommend a decision. Alternatively, they trust your advice enough to permit you to make the decision. They don't want to get a 20 page letter that goes "on the one hand, but on the other hand, so you decide".
What emerges from this professional context is two conflicting approaches: one is what we all know as "overthinking" or "analysis paralysis" (where we are paralysed by the available options) and the other is what I will call "the rush to judgement" or "cognitive bias" or "bounded rationality" (where we grow overconfident of our ability to draw the right inferences and make the right decision and we start taking shortcuts and rely solely on our gut reaction).
Both are destructive of relationships. However, the latter breeds an intellectual arrogance that is possibly more destructive of personal relationships than the former.
Bad Judgement
It's very easy to fall into a judgement trap: I trust my judgement, therefore by definition, I can't or don't or won't trust yours and therefore, guess what, I am right and you are wrong.
It takes a strong partner, perhaps an equally strong-willed person, to maintain this type of relationship, but then you simply end up with a head-butting competition. And what's the point of that? Why not just find a meek and mild and compliant partner who you can bully into submission?
Obviously, that's just as unrealistic and unfulfilling, so ultimately you have to get to a point where on some issues you can disagree without jeopardising your respect, affection or love.
How to Draw More Inferences
A really important message from CBT is the need to expand your inferences and avoid negativity.
I don't regard this ability as destructive of efficient decision-making.
In fact, I regard it as a power of perception that is not radically different from the literary or linguistic ability to seek and find multiple meanings and connotations, which is the foundation of punning and wordplay and flirtation.
However, I feel that the need to get the basic message out to as many people as possible in an easy to understand format means that everybody gets exactly the same advice, regardless of their personal or relationship circumstances.
Perhaps, this is simply saying that, if you want personal advice, you need to see and pay for a therapist, which is quite possibly the correct approach.
You Can't Behave by Yourself
Another reservation for me relates to how the book deals with the need for mutuality or reciprocity.
There is a tendency in CBT to assume that any relationship is solely a matter of how the one patient deals with A, the circumstances or behaviour of the rest of the world.
It expects the patient to act rationally, to be more realistic and less assertive or argumentative or angry.
However, in many cases, it is the dynamic of the relationship that needs to be analysed.
How Much Do You Want Me to Bend?
This is not an open ticket to blame the other person.
Quite the opposite: if we're trying to run a better three-legged race, perhaps we have to start with what binds us together.
By definition, a three-legged race involves some compromise and accommodation. We can't run the race the same way we would run it solo.
The question is what and how do we compromise.
The book seems to be written from an individualistic perspective. it is dictated by the desire to maximise an individual's self-esteem, which is fair enough, but I think we each have certain core values (openness, fairness, humour, flirtatiousness) that constitute our authentic self.
In a personal relationship, if you have to compromise those values, then there comes a point when you cease to be authentic to yourself and become insincere with the friend.
I'm not talking about shared taste in music or film or books or food. I'm reluctant to use the term "essence", but I can't think of a better one at the moment. The book refers to "core values", which is close, but it uses it in such a broad way that it encompasses the negative view that "I am bad".
I think that friendships and relationships are founded on shared ethics and values.
If we don't have them, we should look elsewhere, regardless of the short-term impact on self-esteem.
Looking Around the Bend
I felt that this book urged too many compromises and accommodations in the pursuit of valueless harmony and personal self-esteem.
We have to accept that sometimes the answer will be that the three-legged binding in a particular relationship cannot be repaired or will never work, and perhaps each of us needs to find another running partner.
Still, I think we have much to learn from the key message of CBT that, if we think differently, we will behave differently.
The A, B , C approach is a very practical way to start the journey.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL HAIKU (THE NICK CAVE SUITE)
(A loose haikufication of the lyrics of Nick Cave)
No Cognition
I've read dirty books,
Tomes on human behaviour,
Still I don't get love.
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
I held your hand but
You took it away from me
I don't hold it now.
The Letters
I still don't know why
You tore my letters apart,
With long-fingered hands.
I've Been Searching with a Heart of Cold
You always said that
I was your cold-hearted man.
I guess you were right.
SOUNDTRACK
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Nobody's Baby Now"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQNsSS...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7yq74...
I found this book insightful and learned a lot from it.
I will try to integrate what I learned into how I think and live my life.
The book is well-structured, well-written and easy to understand.
CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) argues that our thinking informs and shapes our behaviour, and that flaws in our thinking (often the product of poor self-esteem) can distort our behaviour.
This in turn has a detrimental effect on our self-esteem, which completes a vicious cycle of misguided behaviour.
The book argues that we can correct our behaviour by correcting our thinking.
If it has a defect, it is that it tends to be repetitious. However, this is a result of the stylistic choice to design and define an abstract toolkit, before applying it to specific issues and problems that we confront in real life.
The repetition therefore reinforces our understanding of the toolkit and our ability to apply it practically.
Valuable Advice
Any person who seeks to benefit from the CBT toolkit will probably have to dovetail it into a system of abstract core values that they might have developed over a long period of time.
This can be a barrier to the process.
The starting point of my personal and political philosophy is that we are individuals.
However, we form relationships with others in the personal, family, social, work and political spheres.
Our first duty and relationship is to our self.
However, we then enter into a zone or space between us and others.
In any of these zones, we can be nervous, cautious, earnest, serious, relaxed, rigid, flexible, spontaneous, playful, flirtatious, exuberant, private, open, careful, careless.
We assert, argue, persuade, charm, play, flirt, seduce, compromise, cooperate, agree, consummate, like, love, respect, value, care, nurture.
The nature of our relationships is not static. As we get to know somebody, our relationship can change, improve and loosen up.
For any relationship to become more relaxed and spontaneous, it needs to be built on the foundation of certainty. This can only come with some level of mutuality and confidence in the relationship.
The desire for certainty and spontaneity needs to be reciprocated. It's a two way street. It needs two people to be committed. It needs to be based on some shared desire or values.
The hard part is determining whether we share this desire and these values.
We can only find out by asking and talking about it. We can't find out by denying an arena for the discussion or failing to respond to questions.
In fact, when you cut off communication, you are making a strong case that there is no shared foundation.
Harmony and Me are Pretty Good Company
In the western world, we tend to approach our other relationships from the perspective of individualism.
Within the political framework of liberty, equality and fraternity, we tend to emphasise our individual freedom.
Unlike the East, we tend to downplay fraternity or what can also be described as harmony.
However, harmony is at the heart of our relationships with others.
CBT is concerned with the impact of these relationships on individuals.
However, it doesn't address the issues or problems in the political language of rights and obligations.
It examines them from an individual personal perspective.
It assumes that we act selfishly in our own self-interest.
Similarly, it assumes that others in our lives act in their own self-interest.
It doesn't assume that harmony is the natural order.
Instead, it assumes that we might act at cross-purposes, and that problems will arise when our self-interest pulls us in opposite directions.
That doesn't mean that other people actually dislike or hate us. They might just be totally neutral about us.
If they fail to like or love us, it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with us. We just have to learn how to cope or deal with it.
The important thing is that we not undermine our own self-esteem, because somebody else fails to display respect, affection or love.
It's as Easy as A, B, C
CBT uses our intelligence, cognition or rationality to minimise or manage our emotional problems.
It recognises that many of our problems are caused by the way we draw inferences from circumstances or the behaviour of others.
It uses a simple A, B, C approach.
A is the circumstance or behaviour that concerns us, while C is our emotional response to it.
B is the inference we draw from A. It causes our emotional response in C.
Almost inevitably, our self-esteem problems derive from the fact that we draw just one inference and it is the most negative.
So CBT's solution is simply to get us to logically draw additional inferences.
Just by virtue of having other options to explain A, we can minimise or manage the tendency to draw the most negative inference.
This solution has a simple appeal. However, it reflects a faith in rationality. In effect, it asks us to be more rational in how we deal with our emotions.
While I agree with this approach, to some, it must be paradoxical.
Reason and Emotion
My personal life challenge has been how to get reason and emotion to sit happily in the one person, how to let them work as a three-legged race, rather than always be at loggerheads.
I have been professionally trained in logic and analysis. I had to think of all of the possibilities, weigh them up dispassionately and facilitate a decision.
Note that I say that I had to facilitate a decision. The decision was usually not mine, it was a client's. I am in the business of giving advice; the client has to make the decision.
Good Judgement
Very early in my professional life, I realised that clients want you to make their decision easy for them. They want you to recommend a decision. Alternatively, they trust your advice enough to permit you to make the decision. They don't want to get a 20 page letter that goes "on the one hand, but on the other hand, so you decide".
What emerges from this professional context is two conflicting approaches: one is what we all know as "overthinking" or "analysis paralysis" (where we are paralysed by the available options) and the other is what I will call "the rush to judgement" or "cognitive bias" or "bounded rationality" (where we grow overconfident of our ability to draw the right inferences and make the right decision and we start taking shortcuts and rely solely on our gut reaction).
Both are destructive of relationships. However, the latter breeds an intellectual arrogance that is possibly more destructive of personal relationships than the former.
Bad Judgement
It's very easy to fall into a judgement trap: I trust my judgement, therefore by definition, I can't or don't or won't trust yours and therefore, guess what, I am right and you are wrong.
It takes a strong partner, perhaps an equally strong-willed person, to maintain this type of relationship, but then you simply end up with a head-butting competition. And what's the point of that? Why not just find a meek and mild and compliant partner who you can bully into submission?
Obviously, that's just as unrealistic and unfulfilling, so ultimately you have to get to a point where on some issues you can disagree without jeopardising your respect, affection or love.
How to Draw More Inferences
A really important message from CBT is the need to expand your inferences and avoid negativity.
I don't regard this ability as destructive of efficient decision-making.
In fact, I regard it as a power of perception that is not radically different from the literary or linguistic ability to seek and find multiple meanings and connotations, which is the foundation of punning and wordplay and flirtation.
However, I feel that the need to get the basic message out to as many people as possible in an easy to understand format means that everybody gets exactly the same advice, regardless of their personal or relationship circumstances.
Perhaps, this is simply saying that, if you want personal advice, you need to see and pay for a therapist, which is quite possibly the correct approach.
You Can't Behave by Yourself
Another reservation for me relates to how the book deals with the need for mutuality or reciprocity.
There is a tendency in CBT to assume that any relationship is solely a matter of how the one patient deals with A, the circumstances or behaviour of the rest of the world.
It expects the patient to act rationally, to be more realistic and less assertive or argumentative or angry.
However, in many cases, it is the dynamic of the relationship that needs to be analysed.
How Much Do You Want Me to Bend?
This is not an open ticket to blame the other person.
Quite the opposite: if we're trying to run a better three-legged race, perhaps we have to start with what binds us together.
By definition, a three-legged race involves some compromise and accommodation. We can't run the race the same way we would run it solo.
The question is what and how do we compromise.
The book seems to be written from an individualistic perspective. it is dictated by the desire to maximise an individual's self-esteem, which is fair enough, but I think we each have certain core values (openness, fairness, humour, flirtatiousness) that constitute our authentic self.
In a personal relationship, if you have to compromise those values, then there comes a point when you cease to be authentic to yourself and become insincere with the friend.
I'm not talking about shared taste in music or film or books or food. I'm reluctant to use the term "essence", but I can't think of a better one at the moment. The book refers to "core values", which is close, but it uses it in such a broad way that it encompasses the negative view that "I am bad".
I think that friendships and relationships are founded on shared ethics and values.
If we don't have them, we should look elsewhere, regardless of the short-term impact on self-esteem.
Looking Around the Bend
I felt that this book urged too many compromises and accommodations in the pursuit of valueless harmony and personal self-esteem.
We have to accept that sometimes the answer will be that the three-legged binding in a particular relationship cannot be repaired or will never work, and perhaps each of us needs to find another running partner.
Still, I think we have much to learn from the key message of CBT that, if we think differently, we will behave differently.
The A, B , C approach is a very practical way to start the journey.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL HAIKU (THE NICK CAVE SUITE)
(A loose haikufication of the lyrics of Nick Cave)
No Cognition
I've read dirty books,
Tomes on human behaviour,
Still I don't get love.
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
I held your hand but
You took it away from me
I don't hold it now.
The Letters
I still don't know why
You tore my letters apart,
With long-fingered hands.
I've Been Searching with a Heart of Cold
You always said that
I was your cold-hearted man.
I guess you were right.
SOUNDTRACK
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Nobody's Baby Now"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQNsSS...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7yq74...
July 11, 2016
This took me a long time to get through, because I like to read in a linear fashion rather than the dip-in-and-out style recommended by this book (a behavioural quirk that's probably part of the reason I need such a book in the first place). There's lots of useful and helpful information here, in a chatty, informal style that didn't feel patronising. Now I've made myself happy by reading the whole thing from start to finish, I can go back and cherrypick what I need, when I need it...
October 18, 2020
کتابیه که به نظرم همه باید بخونن.
اگر دلیل افکار منفیتون رو نمیدونید، اگر فکرهایی بصورت ناخودآگاه آزارتون میدن، اگر ناامیدی و غم شمارو اسیر خودش کرده، یاد بگیرید که چطور ذهن خودتون رو کنترل و پاک سازی کنید.
اگر دلیل افکار منفیتون رو نمیدونید، اگر فکرهایی بصورت ناخودآگاه آزارتون میدن، اگر ناامیدی و غم شمارو اسیر خودش کرده، یاد بگیرید که چطور ذهن خودتون رو کنترل و پاک سازی کنید.
June 17, 2020
I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in improving their mental health. It describes several ways of overcoming various mental health problems such as anxiety and depression and includes worksheets which are really useful in breaking down your problems and how to overcome them. It's a book that you can use to dip in and out of when you feel like it.
February 7, 2017
a fantastic book for anyone looking to understand behaviours in their life, whether you have depression, OCD, anxiety, or just wanting to better understand your mind and how to get out of negative thoughts and actions. I've been in therapy for 3 months and this book has helped me so much.
May 18, 2014
This is a great introduction and walk-through the CBT. Lots of practical guides and examples and I think I'll be going back to some again until I internalize them.
August 17, 2025
Zelden of nooit heb ik zo'n informatief, praktisch en eigenlijk ook inspirerend boek gelezen om je mentale gezondheid te verbeteren. Of je nou GROTE problemen hebt, of gewoon wat beter zou willen functioneren als mens, aan dit boek heb je wat (lees: veel).
Ik denk oprecht dat als iedereen wat CTG zou volgen, of zelf de principes zou toepassen, de wereld een betere plek zou zijn. Dit boek is een aanrader.
Ik denk oprecht dat als iedereen wat CTG zou volgen, of zelf de principes zou toepassen, de wereld een betere plek zou zijn. Dit boek is een aanrader.
May 31, 2025
Tentunya buku ini memberikan pemahaman mengenai apakah CBT sebetulnya. CBT tidak berarti meniadakan trauma masa kecil, tidak juga menganggap emosi atau pikiran negatif itu buruk sama sekali. Buku ini tidak mengarahkan pada kondisi "ekstrem", yang berkebalikan 180 derajat dengan problem apa pun yang kita alami. Misalkan, kita berpikir bahwa "saya bukanlah orang yang baik". Buku ini tidak hendak mengubah pikiran itu menjadi "saya adalah orang yang baik". Alih-alih, pikiran yang realistis adalah "saya punya sisi baik dan juga punya sisi buruk". Menuju yang pertengahan, begitulah.
Beberapa bab dalam buku ini memang relevan dengan persoalan yang saya rasakan, misalnya tentang mengatasi depresi dan kemarahan serta menerima diri sendiri. Di samping itu, ada juga macam-macam thinking errors yang sepertinya patut untuk dihafalkan supaya mudah mengidentifikasinya untuk kemudian "berkonsultasi" kepada buku ini mengenai cara-cara memperbaikinya. Buku ini menyediakan berbagai alat bantu dalam bentuk form, sheet, dan sebagainya (dikumpulkan di "Appendix B").
Maka buku ini layak untuk dimiliki sebagai referensi atau panduan untuk mengatasi sesat pikir dan emosi. Membacanya secara tuntas kali pertama untuk meninjau isinya ada apa saja, selanjutnya buku ini dapat dibuka-buka lagi kapan saja sesuai dengan keperluan.
Saya juga coba mengaitkan petunjuk dalam buku ini dengan ajaran Islam, khususnya tentang tazkiyatun nafs atau mengobati penyakit hati/membersihkan jiwa. Yap, saya duga mental problem hanyalah istilah sekuler yang kalau dalam Islam disebut sebagai "penyakit hati". Dan, menderita berbagai penyakit hati itu sangatlah manusiawi seperti yang baru-baru ini saya dengar dari suatu kajian Syafiq Riza Basalamah di YouTube. Malah Alquran kerap me-roasting manusia atas berbagai sifat buruknya itu: zalim, bodoh, tidak tahu bersyukur, suka tergesa-gesa, dan seterusnya.
Setelah menuntaskan buku petunjuk praktis semacam ini, biasanya ada perasaan seperti mendapat PR. "PR" yang diberikan buku ini bagi saya adalah journaling yang setidaknya dilakukan secara mingguan, untuk meninjau keadaan mental belakangan, mengidentifikasi adakah problem, yang jikalau ada, mencoba-gunakan cara-cara yang ditawarkan dalam buku ini. Katakanlah itu sebagai suatu bentuk "perawatan jiwa". Cara begini lebih affordable lah, ya, ketimbang membiarkan problem-problem--baik yang disadari maupun yang tidak--menumpuk, membusuk dengan mengeluarkan gas-gas yang nantinya menimbulkan ledakan, dan ujung-ujungnya mesti membayar tenaga profesional :P Anyway, kalau terlalu malas untuk mempraktikkan isinya secara "mandiri", buku ini menyarankan untuk meminta dorongan dari tenaga profesional. Buku ini sekalian memberikan gambaran yang cukup mendetail (khususnya di UK) mengenai tenaga profesional macam apa saja yang tersedia.
"PR" lainnya adalah belajar berkebun, sebagaimana judul pada bab 18 yaitu "Psychological Gardening: Maintaining Your CBT Gains". Bab ini mengumpamakan perawatan jiwa dengan perawatan tanaman. Yah, berkebun secara fisik saja saya enggak telaten apalagi berkebun secara mental spiritual?! Anyway, perumpamaan itu mengilhamkan saya agar dapat merefleksikan atau menerapkan pelajaran dari kegiatan yang satu (yang bersifat fisik) ke kegiatan yang lain (yang bersifat mental spiritual). Menjadi manusia yang berintegritas, begitu lo. Maka itu saya berpikir aktivitas cleaning & gardening adalah kunci.
Beberapa bab dalam buku ini memang relevan dengan persoalan yang saya rasakan, misalnya tentang mengatasi depresi dan kemarahan serta menerima diri sendiri. Di samping itu, ada juga macam-macam thinking errors yang sepertinya patut untuk dihafalkan supaya mudah mengidentifikasinya untuk kemudian "berkonsultasi" kepada buku ini mengenai cara-cara memperbaikinya. Buku ini menyediakan berbagai alat bantu dalam bentuk form, sheet, dan sebagainya (dikumpulkan di "Appendix B").
Maka buku ini layak untuk dimiliki sebagai referensi atau panduan untuk mengatasi sesat pikir dan emosi. Membacanya secara tuntas kali pertama untuk meninjau isinya ada apa saja, selanjutnya buku ini dapat dibuka-buka lagi kapan saja sesuai dengan keperluan.
Saya juga coba mengaitkan petunjuk dalam buku ini dengan ajaran Islam, khususnya tentang tazkiyatun nafs atau mengobati penyakit hati/membersihkan jiwa. Yap, saya duga mental problem hanyalah istilah sekuler yang kalau dalam Islam disebut sebagai "penyakit hati". Dan, menderita berbagai penyakit hati itu sangatlah manusiawi seperti yang baru-baru ini saya dengar dari suatu kajian Syafiq Riza Basalamah di YouTube. Malah Alquran kerap me-roasting manusia atas berbagai sifat buruknya itu: zalim, bodoh, tidak tahu bersyukur, suka tergesa-gesa, dan seterusnya.
Setelah menuntaskan buku petunjuk praktis semacam ini, biasanya ada perasaan seperti mendapat PR. "PR" yang diberikan buku ini bagi saya adalah journaling yang setidaknya dilakukan secara mingguan, untuk meninjau keadaan mental belakangan, mengidentifikasi adakah problem, yang jikalau ada, mencoba-gunakan cara-cara yang ditawarkan dalam buku ini. Katakanlah itu sebagai suatu bentuk "perawatan jiwa". Cara begini lebih affordable lah, ya, ketimbang membiarkan problem-problem--baik yang disadari maupun yang tidak--menumpuk, membusuk dengan mengeluarkan gas-gas yang nantinya menimbulkan ledakan, dan ujung-ujungnya mesti membayar tenaga profesional :P Anyway, kalau terlalu malas untuk mempraktikkan isinya secara "mandiri", buku ini menyarankan untuk meminta dorongan dari tenaga profesional. Buku ini sekalian memberikan gambaran yang cukup mendetail (khususnya di UK) mengenai tenaga profesional macam apa saja yang tersedia.
"PR" lainnya adalah belajar berkebun, sebagaimana judul pada bab 18 yaitu "Psychological Gardening: Maintaining Your CBT Gains". Bab ini mengumpamakan perawatan jiwa dengan perawatan tanaman. Yah, berkebun secara fisik saja saya enggak telaten apalagi berkebun secara mental spiritual?! Anyway, perumpamaan itu mengilhamkan saya agar dapat merefleksikan atau menerapkan pelajaran dari kegiatan yang satu (yang bersifat fisik) ke kegiatan yang lain (yang bersifat mental spiritual). Menjadi manusia yang berintegritas, begitu lo. Maka itu saya berpikir aktivitas cleaning & gardening adalah kunci.
December 29, 2012
A choice in part inspired by Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Test, I picked this book up because I had no clue what CBT is beyond guessing from the words that make up the phrase.
To go down a side path: “for dummies” books intrigue me. There is zero consistency in their quality from title to title. For example, there is the powerful “Selling for Dummies” book that I refer back to even a decade on from when I first read it. Then there are many others that confuse and feel more like an assembly of bits of information rather than a coherent guide. CBT for Dummies is a mix of the two. In part pieces of information, but threaded together in a sensible, gradually predictable and well paced manner.
Going from zero knowledge on the topic to both having an admiration for what it is and being able to hold a reasonably sensible conversation with people in the industry is indicative of the value of this particular “for dummies” book. It was also a relief to hear that CBT is being used more frequently instead of medicine to cure psychological issues.
With both a UK and US hat on, it appears that the UK is covertly embracing positive psychology through CBT in a way that feels more like a part of everyday life for Americans.
An intelligent book on a complex topic. If psychology topics interest you and you don’t know much about CBT, this book is worth a look.
To go down a side path: “for dummies” books intrigue me. There is zero consistency in their quality from title to title. For example, there is the powerful “Selling for Dummies” book that I refer back to even a decade on from when I first read it. Then there are many others that confuse and feel more like an assembly of bits of information rather than a coherent guide. CBT for Dummies is a mix of the two. In part pieces of information, but threaded together in a sensible, gradually predictable and well paced manner.
Going from zero knowledge on the topic to both having an admiration for what it is and being able to hold a reasonably sensible conversation with people in the industry is indicative of the value of this particular “for dummies” book. It was also a relief to hear that CBT is being used more frequently instead of medicine to cure psychological issues.
With both a UK and US hat on, it appears that the UK is covertly embracing positive psychology through CBT in a way that feels more like a part of everyday life for Americans.
An intelligent book on a complex topic. If psychology topics interest you and you don’t know much about CBT, this book is worth a look.
May 2, 2014
An excellent introduction/reinforcement of the basic principles behind this popular psychotherapy approach. As advertised, it's pretty simple and straight-forward presentation. Includes actual CBT interventions as well as theoretical guidelines. I appreciate how it's intended as a self-help book, but the author spends time near the end addressing when it might be appropriate for a reader to seek professional advice from a physician or a professionally trained therapist.
September 25, 2018
Handy Tool in the Mental Health and Holistic Health Fields of Self-help
I gave my rating because I found only two errors and I understood everything written in one pass down each sentence and I found my weak areas with plenty of resources within its structured pages. Thank you for making it available in Kindle book format so I can gorge on it and not miss my Facebook notifications. 😎
I gave my rating because I found only two errors and I understood everything written in one pass down each sentence and I found my weak areas with plenty of resources within its structured pages. Thank you for making it available in Kindle book format so I can gorge on it and not miss my Facebook notifications. 😎
October 31, 2017
It's packed with well-meaning advice - the likes of which you might expect to find in a Reader's Digest, or from a well-meaning friend. It claims a scientific basis for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy but in this massive book its very hard to determine which bits have been tested with success in a clinical environment, and which bits are... well-meaning advice.
June 12, 2016
One day I was too honest about myself while in conversation with a friend. The next day she lent me this book. An excellent introduction to the subject from a practical point of view. It gives you everything you need to get started. I will not be practicing CBT as I like my flaws.
April 17, 2008
It was very helpful and I continue to refer to it
October 6, 2010
For anyone who ever has thoughts which act against rather than for them! Interesting techniques for analyzing and combatting unhelpful thought and emotional habits.
August 10, 2012
Its a well laid out, well thought out book. Very easy to follow and very helpful.
February 11, 2013
Great insights into the workings of the mind.
April 14, 2013
Have used a lot of the described exercised within my group therapy programme and by and large they have worked really well.
July 2, 2013
at first I was sceptical as so much else seemed to be ineffective, but as I progressed through it I realised that it could be helpful.
November 8, 2013
3.5. I keep hearing this therapy referenced in other books so I wanted to get an idea of what it entails. This book achieved that for me.
October 3, 2014
Worthwhile base level book
April 19, 2016
A very useful insightful and easy read self help book. Written in plain English and easily accessible this is a book that can dipped into time and time again when needed . Recommended
June 4, 2016
Really--some useful perspectives and helpful tools regardless of how much CBT you think you need.
October 16, 2017
Great introduction to CBT packed full of interesting information and practical exercises.
November 8, 2018
Like all of the "Dummie" books, well written and easily followed, and well worth the money. I have enjoyed learning about CBT and trying to apply it my daily life.
March 7, 2019
Felt more like a self help book than an intro to CBT.
August 3, 2019
A good, solid intro.
February 5, 2021
I'd give it a 4.5 if I could. Lots of excellent information presented in an accessible format.
May 20, 2024
From my perspective as a therapist, this book provides a great introduction to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for the average person. Rhena Branch and Robin Wilson give plenty of practical techniques that can be used to address a variety of problems, including anxiety, depression, addiction, insomnia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Most impressively, they give a clear view of the philosophy behind CBT. Along with being the most evidence-based therapeutic model, it makes plenty of intuitive sense and is highly compatible with increasingly the popular practices of mindfulness meditation and Stoic philosophy. As the authors put it:
This is where a therapist can be helpful. Rather than being an authority figure, therapists using a CBT model act in partnership with clients. The practice is based on transparency in the use of the practices. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies can be faulted for being redundant, but it is a reference book at heart, and reference books tend to be redundant. One point that is repeated is that CBT is focused on the present and the future, but does recognize the importance of the past:
However, CBT does not encourage people to wallow in their past trauma and blame other people for their current problems. Instead, it is fundamentally empowering to the patient.
In other words, CBT requires a person to take responsibility for their own happiness.
**
Citation:
Branch, R., & Wilson, R. (2020). Cognitive behavioural therapy for dummies (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
*
Citation:
Branch, R., & Wilson, R. (2020). Cognitive behavioural therapy for dummies, 3rd edition (B. Mann, Narr.) [audiobook]. Tantor. https://www.audible.com/pd/Cognitive-...
Title: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies, 3rd Edition
Author(s): Rhena Branch & Rob Willson
Year: 2020 (3rd edition), first published in 2005
Genre: Nonfiction - Psychology, self-help
Page count: 432 pages
Date(s) read: 5/12/24 - 5/18/24
Book #102 in 2024
**
“Most of the steps to overcoming psychological problems with CBT are relatively simple. CBT isn’t rocket science - in fact, many of the principles and recommendations may seem like common sense. However, CBT may be sense, but it ain’t that common - if it was, fewer people would be suffering [from] emotional problems.
Even if CBT is as simple as ABC, the actual application of CBT principles is far from easy. Using CBT to help yourself requires a lot of personal effort, diligence, repetition, and determination.” (p. 321).
This is where a therapist can be helpful. Rather than being an authority figure, therapists using a CBT model act in partnership with clients. The practice is based on transparency in the use of the practices. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies can be faulted for being redundant, but it is a reference book at heart, and reference books tend to be redundant. One point that is repeated is that CBT is focused on the present and the future, but does recognize the importance of the past:
“People are sometimes surprised to find out that CBT considers the past an important aspect of understanding one’s problems. Unlike traditional Freudian psychoanalysis, which focuses intensely on childhood relationships and experiences, CBT specifically investigates past experiences in order to see how these early events may still be affecting people in their present lives.” (p. 269).
However, CBT does not encourage people to wallow in their past trauma and blame other people for their current problems. Instead, it is fundamentally empowering to the patient.
“Revisit your history with a view to coming up with some reasons behind the ways that you think and behave in the present. Be compassionate with yourself, but [recognize] that you’re the only one who can retrain your brain into updated and healthier ways of understanding your experience.” (p. 284).
In other words, CBT requires a person to take responsibility for their own happiness.
**
Citation:
Branch, R., & Wilson, R. (2020). Cognitive behavioural therapy for dummies (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
*
Citation:
Branch, R., & Wilson, R. (2020). Cognitive behavioural therapy for dummies, 3rd edition (B. Mann, Narr.) [audiobook]. Tantor. https://www.audible.com/pd/Cognitive-...
Title: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies, 3rd Edition
Author(s): Rhena Branch & Rob Willson
Year: 2020 (3rd edition), first published in 2005
Genre: Nonfiction - Psychology, self-help
Page count: 432 pages
Date(s) read: 5/12/24 - 5/18/24
Book #102 in 2024
**
June 26, 2017
If we had to define the purpose of therapy, its purpose would not be to make you a straighter-thinking, more rational person. Rather, the purpose of therapy is to help you achieve your goals.
‘You think how you feel' is a good way of summing up CBT
This is a very comprehensive book which outlines the core ideas behind CBT which can by applied to a whole range of needs and 'thinking errors'. The contents are very broad, and emphasise the concreteness of a systematic approach to the convolutions of unhealthy thoughts and feelings. One of the biggest advantages of writing down your thoughts is that the process can help you to regard these thoughts simply as hunches, theories and ideas - rather than as absolute facts. The formulae are very useful for simplifying a morass of thoughts and creating a sense of control. A (actual or activating event) + B (beliefs and meanings about the event) = C (emotional and behavioural consequence) and Feeling___ (emotion) about _____ (theme or event), leading me to_________ (response). There were many exercises I had not seen before in specialist targeted CBT books, such as listing 10 different emotional reactions in response to the same situation, and formalising rebuttals to doubts about putting a healthier belief into practice.
There are many insightful, if cheesy, metaphors to help put the surreal world of emotions into a functional context. A thermometer reads degrees of temperature, not only ‘hot' and ‘cold'. Think like a thermometer - in degrees, not extremes. or There's a saying ‘a ship is safe in a harbour', but that's not what ships are built for. The assertion about behavioural experiments was particularly encouraging as the writers suggest that it encourages clients to become more like scientists. I was aware of trying to treat oneself the way one would a friend in need, but I felt greater compassion for myself when I was encouraged to Ask yourself what types of belief you'd teach a child. I found the advice non-intrusive. The writers are skilful in drawing the reader through their conclusions logically and at the pace of the reader's developing thinking. keep acting consistently with how you would like things to be rather than becoming depressed or irate about things not being the way you believe they must be. Many of the messages will apply profoundly to the full range of mental health conditions. Self-acceptance means deciding to resist labelling yourself at all and rather to entertain the idea that ratings are inappropriate to the human condition.
At times I found the writing style patronising, but I believe this is a characteristic of the For Dummies franchise as opposed to their self-help books specifically. Especially when the tone was maintained as light and the diagrams often childish despite the seriousness of the content. But perhaps I am just overgeneralising. Rigid thinking is a reliable indicator that you're having an unhealthy feeling. Despite the flippancy of the narrative, the sheer breadth of this book is a strong redeeming factor and I would recommend it as a trove of potential new exercises for anyone who has benefitted from CBT in the past.
However, the meanings you attach to certain types of negative events may not be wholly accurate, realistic, or helpful. Sometimes, your thinking may lead you to assign extreme meanings to events, leaving you feeling disturbed.
‘You think how you feel' is a good way of summing up CBT
This is a very comprehensive book which outlines the core ideas behind CBT which can by applied to a whole range of needs and 'thinking errors'. The contents are very broad, and emphasise the concreteness of a systematic approach to the convolutions of unhealthy thoughts and feelings. One of the biggest advantages of writing down your thoughts is that the process can help you to regard these thoughts simply as hunches, theories and ideas - rather than as absolute facts. The formulae are very useful for simplifying a morass of thoughts and creating a sense of control. A (actual or activating event) + B (beliefs and meanings about the event) = C (emotional and behavioural consequence) and Feeling___ (emotion) about _____ (theme or event), leading me to_________ (response). There were many exercises I had not seen before in specialist targeted CBT books, such as listing 10 different emotional reactions in response to the same situation, and formalising rebuttals to doubts about putting a healthier belief into practice.
There are many insightful, if cheesy, metaphors to help put the surreal world of emotions into a functional context. A thermometer reads degrees of temperature, not only ‘hot' and ‘cold'. Think like a thermometer - in degrees, not extremes. or There's a saying ‘a ship is safe in a harbour', but that's not what ships are built for. The assertion about behavioural experiments was particularly encouraging as the writers suggest that it encourages clients to become more like scientists. I was aware of trying to treat oneself the way one would a friend in need, but I felt greater compassion for myself when I was encouraged to Ask yourself what types of belief you'd teach a child. I found the advice non-intrusive. The writers are skilful in drawing the reader through their conclusions logically and at the pace of the reader's developing thinking. keep acting consistently with how you would like things to be rather than becoming depressed or irate about things not being the way you believe they must be. Many of the messages will apply profoundly to the full range of mental health conditions. Self-acceptance means deciding to resist labelling yourself at all and rather to entertain the idea that ratings are inappropriate to the human condition.
At times I found the writing style patronising, but I believe this is a characteristic of the For Dummies franchise as opposed to their self-help books specifically. Especially when the tone was maintained as light and the diagrams often childish despite the seriousness of the content. But perhaps I am just overgeneralising. Rigid thinking is a reliable indicator that you're having an unhealthy feeling. Despite the flippancy of the narrative, the sheer breadth of this book is a strong redeeming factor and I would recommend it as a trove of potential new exercises for anyone who has benefitted from CBT in the past.
However, the meanings you attach to certain types of negative events may not be wholly accurate, realistic, or helpful. Sometimes, your thinking may lead you to assign extreme meanings to events, leaving you feeling disturbed.
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