A commencement message to graduates: Happiness is not something to strive for. It’s a by-product, if you’re lucky, of living a valued life that’s balanced and full of meaning.
Category: Students and Trainees
Trauma Treatment: Evidence-Based Approaches versus Intuitive Approaches
The negative outcomes of past intuitive treatment reinforced one of the most common and fundamental beliefs of PTSD: “I am incompetent.” The woman perceived through past experiences in and out of therapy that something within her was so broken that she was beyond help, leading to a cycle of hopelessness, suicidality, and treatment avoidance.
New Breakthroughs in Cognitive Therapy: Applications to the Severely Mentally Ill (Part 1)
New Breakthroughs in Cognitive Therapy: Applications to the Severely Mentally Ill (Part 1) Aaron T. Beck, MD Note: This article summarizes Aaron Beck’s interview with Judith Beck at the Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in Anaheim, CA, December 16, 2017, for which he received a standing ovation from over 7,000 conference participants. Origins and Development of the Treatment Early in my career, I treated a delusional patient who believed he was being…
Reconciling 12-Step Tenets with Principles of CBT for Substance Use Disorders
Therapists providing CBT to their patients with substance misuse problems can support the patients’ involvement in 12-steps groups without having to be concerned that the two approaches are incompatible.
Behavioral Activation Tip
Depressed clients often isolate themselves from others and withdraw from life. To counter the isolation and withdrawal common to depression, therapists can introduce behavioral activation. This strategy entails getting clients more active and involved in life by scheduling activities that have the potential to improve their mood.
Intrinsic Motivation
In our work with dieters, we have found that many (if not most) rely very heavily on the scale going down as an external reward for their hard work. They believe that if they were perfect, or close to perfect, on their diets, the scale should go down, if not every day, then certainly every week. This is problematic because the scale simply doesn’t work that way.