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The Feeling Good Handbook
Make life an exhilarating experience!
With his phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, Dr. David Burns introduced a groundbreaking, drug-free treatment for depression. Now in this long-awaited sequel, he reveals powerful new techniques and provides step-by-step exercises that help you cope with the full range of everyday problems.
With his phenomenally successful Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, Dr. David Burns introduced a groundbreaking, drug-free treatment for depression. Now in this long-awaited sequel, he reveals powerful new techniques and provides step-by-step exercises that help you cope with the full range of everyday problems.
* Free from fears, phobias, and panic attacks
* Overcome self-defeating attitudes
* Discover the five secrets of intimate communication
* Put an end to marital conflict
* Conquer procrastination and unleash your potential for success
With an up-to-date section on everything you need to know about commonly prescribed psychiatric drugs and anxiety disorders such as agoraphobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, this remarkable guide can show you how to feel good about yourself and the people you care about. You will discover that life can be an exhilarating experience.
729 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
524 people are currently reading
8743 people want to read
About the author
David D. Burns
24 books641 followersDavid D. Burns is an American psychiatrist and adjunct professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is the author of bestselling books such as Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, The Feeling Good Handbook and Feeling Great: The Revolutionary New Treatment for Depression and Anxiety.
Burns popularized Albert Ellis's and Aaron T. Beck's cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) when his books became bestsellers during the 1980s. In a January 2021 interview, Burns attributed his rise in popularity and much of his success to an appearance in 1988 on The Phil Donahue Show, to which he was invited by the producer after helping her teenage son with depression.
Burns popularized Albert Ellis's and Aaron T. Beck's cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) when his books became bestsellers during the 1980s. In a January 2021 interview, Burns attributed his rise in popularity and much of his success to an appearance in 1988 on The Phil Donahue Show, to which he was invited by the producer after helping her teenage son with depression.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 193 reviews
June 4, 2018
Unlike with previous Burns books, I read this one while I was feeling relatively normal and untroubled. I did this because I sensed myself relapsing. Cognitive therapy, as you might know, is based on the premise that your thoughts control your moods and emotions. Thus it works by changing your beliefs and even your values in order to alleviate depression, anxiety, and problems with relationships. In my own experience, this can have a remarkably liberating effect. The problem is that, when the relief passes and you once more get sucked into the humdrum world of daily troubles, the original beliefs and values come creeping back.
But why is this? Why are we so prone to adopting irrational and self-defeating patterns of thought? Why do we embrace unrealistic standards, make unjustified assumptions, jump to unwarranted conclusions—only to wallow in misery and fear and loneliness—when a few pen-and-paper exercises is sometimes all we need to feel better? It is peculiar. Robert Wright argues that our cognitive imperfections stem from our evolutionary heritage. A competitive and materialistic culture might also contribute. Burns, for his part, does not offer much in the way of explanation; his aim is therapy, not theory. Yet answering this question seems vital if we are to fight an offensive battle rather than a defensive one.
It seems to me that the most proactive strategy would be to intervene on the social rather than the psychological realm (if that were possible). To pick a simple example, if an obsession with being the best is really self-defeating—at least as far as happiness is concerned—then why is the opposite message so passionately embraced in the culture at large?
Perhaps it is because these value systems, which equate happiness with accomplishment, do benefit the group even if they are not psychologically desirable. An office full of miserable perfectionists might out-compete an office full of contented workers with nothing to prove. Advertisements may not have much effect in a world of high self-esteem. And political parties will have trouble getting elected in a world without anxiety. In these and a thousand other ways, society depends on the very thoughts and attitudes that books like this try to combat. No wonder that relapse is common once therapy ceases.
It is also true that there are hidden, and sometimes ugly, benefits to our bad habits. It feels satisfying to think oneself superior to others. Insulting and controlling other people brings a rush. Anxiety helps us to avoid discomfort. Intimacy requires painful vulnerability. And who wants to accept imperfections in oneself? Burns’ methods require that we see ourselves as flawed, that we face our fears, that we acknowledge that other people have a point, that our anger is often unjustified—and who wants to do that? Indeed, sometimes the beliefs that are most precious to us, the beliefs that form our identity and reality, are just what cognitive therapy encourages us to give up—the belief that, for example, your money makes you superior, or that life is rotten, or that your wife is crazy—and these beliefs can seem more important than happiness itself.
Well, I’m not sure I have a solution to this, other than meditating and occasionally dipping into some cognitive therapy books when I feel particularly troubled. For that purpose The Feeling Good Handbook is well suited, since it is a sort of omnibus of Burns’ general approach, with sections on depression, anxiety, and communication. Even though I was not looking for any special relief, I still found the book useful (specifically the section on procrastination, which prompted me to finally begin submitting my novel to agents). As usual, Burns is a heartening voice—compassionate, intelligent, and motivating—who is accessible without descending into tackiness. And it is always a relief to read his anecdotes, since they remind me that these problems, far from hopeless or strange, are part of the human condition.
But why is this? Why are we so prone to adopting irrational and self-defeating patterns of thought? Why do we embrace unrealistic standards, make unjustified assumptions, jump to unwarranted conclusions—only to wallow in misery and fear and loneliness—when a few pen-and-paper exercises is sometimes all we need to feel better? It is peculiar. Robert Wright argues that our cognitive imperfections stem from our evolutionary heritage. A competitive and materialistic culture might also contribute. Burns, for his part, does not offer much in the way of explanation; his aim is therapy, not theory. Yet answering this question seems vital if we are to fight an offensive battle rather than a defensive one.
It seems to me that the most proactive strategy would be to intervene on the social rather than the psychological realm (if that were possible). To pick a simple example, if an obsession with being the best is really self-defeating—at least as far as happiness is concerned—then why is the opposite message so passionately embraced in the culture at large?
Perhaps it is because these value systems, which equate happiness with accomplishment, do benefit the group even if they are not psychologically desirable. An office full of miserable perfectionists might out-compete an office full of contented workers with nothing to prove. Advertisements may not have much effect in a world of high self-esteem. And political parties will have trouble getting elected in a world without anxiety. In these and a thousand other ways, society depends on the very thoughts and attitudes that books like this try to combat. No wonder that relapse is common once therapy ceases.
It is also true that there are hidden, and sometimes ugly, benefits to our bad habits. It feels satisfying to think oneself superior to others. Insulting and controlling other people brings a rush. Anxiety helps us to avoid discomfort. Intimacy requires painful vulnerability. And who wants to accept imperfections in oneself? Burns’ methods require that we see ourselves as flawed, that we face our fears, that we acknowledge that other people have a point, that our anger is often unjustified—and who wants to do that? Indeed, sometimes the beliefs that are most precious to us, the beliefs that form our identity and reality, are just what cognitive therapy encourages us to give up—the belief that, for example, your money makes you superior, or that life is rotten, or that your wife is crazy—and these beliefs can seem more important than happiness itself.
Well, I’m not sure I have a solution to this, other than meditating and occasionally dipping into some cognitive therapy books when I feel particularly troubled. For that purpose The Feeling Good Handbook is well suited, since it is a sort of omnibus of Burns’ general approach, with sections on depression, anxiety, and communication. Even though I was not looking for any special relief, I still found the book useful (specifically the section on procrastination, which prompted me to finally begin submitting my novel to agents). As usual, Burns is a heartening voice—compassionate, intelligent, and motivating—who is accessible without descending into tackiness. And it is always a relief to read his anecdotes, since they remind me that these problems, far from hopeless or strange, are part of the human condition.
Want to read
November 8, 2012I haven't read this yet, but was recently directed to a list included in this book on page 76 of distorted thoughts, or cognitive distortions, that people make:
1) All-or-nothing thinking: You look at things in absolute, black-and-white categories.
2) Over-generalization: You view a negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.
3) mental filter: You dwell on the negatives and ignore the positives.
4) Discounting the positives: You insist that your positives don't "count."
5) Jumping to conclusions: (a) Mind-reading--you assume that people are reacting negatively to you when there's no definite evidence for this; (b) Fortune-telling--you arbitrarily predict that things will turn out badly.
6) Magnification or minimization: You blow things way out of proportion or you shrink their importance inappropriately.
7) Emotional reasoning: You reason from how you feel--ex. "I feel like an idiot, so I really must be one," "I don't feel like doing this, so I'll put it off."
8) Should statements: You criticize yourself or others with should's, shouldn't's, must's, ought's, and have to's.
9) Labeling: You identify with your shortcomings; instead of telling yourself, "I made a mistake," you tell yourself, "I'm a jerk, a fool, a loser."
10) Personalization and blame: You blame yourself for something you weren't entirely responsible for, or you blame other people and overlook ways that your own attitudes and behaviors contribute to a problem.
These are all habits we can easily identify in others, but what if we made more of an effort to see and break these habits within ourselves? A feast for thought.
1) All-or-nothing thinking: You look at things in absolute, black-and-white categories.
2) Over-generalization: You view a negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.
3) mental filter: You dwell on the negatives and ignore the positives.
4) Discounting the positives: You insist that your positives don't "count."
5) Jumping to conclusions: (a) Mind-reading--you assume that people are reacting negatively to you when there's no definite evidence for this; (b) Fortune-telling--you arbitrarily predict that things will turn out badly.
6) Magnification or minimization: You blow things way out of proportion or you shrink their importance inappropriately.
7) Emotional reasoning: You reason from how you feel--ex. "I feel like an idiot, so I really must be one," "I don't feel like doing this, so I'll put it off."
8) Should statements: You criticize yourself or others with should's, shouldn't's, must's, ought's, and have to's.
9) Labeling: You identify with your shortcomings; instead of telling yourself, "I made a mistake," you tell yourself, "I'm a jerk, a fool, a loser."
10) Personalization and blame: You blame yourself for something you weren't entirely responsible for, or you blame other people and overlook ways that your own attitudes and behaviors contribute to a problem.
These are all habits we can easily identify in others, but what if we made more of an effort to see and break these habits within ourselves? A feast for thought.
January 8, 2016
Do not read this book if you are severely depressed. This book has helped a lot of people -- people who are mildly or moderately depressed. For people who are severely or chronically depressed, not as much.
I bought the book after three years of clinical depression and then had the book for four more years of depression, and I only got a few chapters into it. In fact, it really stressed me out. I took it to my therapist's office several times with me feeling upset, brokenhearted, like a failure, desperate, and hopeless.
"This guy, Dr. Burns, says that if you just think differently, you can change how you're feeling," I said, shaking the book in the air. "He tells about all these people that are really depressed and that come to his office and then they aren't depressed anymore. He even says that in his opinion people who take medication for depression don't need to be taking medication, and that if depressed people would just follow Dr Burns' program here in this book, then their depression would go away.
"What am I doing wrong? I've tried for years to change my thinking! Why can't I get better? He and my other CBT therapists say this is supposed to work, supposed to fix everything! But I've tried so hard!!! Is it just not hard enough? I would have killed myself years ago without medication, but he says I shouldn't have needed medication. I would have been dead many times over already without meds. But he says that essentially no one truly needs meds." I was very upset, in agony, near tears.
"Perhaps," my therapist said in his usual calm, reassuring manner, "he is right -- about a certain group of people. Dr Burns is rather famous, especially in certain circles. Many of his clients may have gone to see him because a) of his reputation and b) they can afford his exorbitant prices. For instance, many may be rich wives who are feeling a little down because their cat died or struggling to communicate with their business-obsessed husbands or having relationship issues with their rich but insincere friends. They feel a little down, and if they've gone to their family practice doctor and gotten a prescription for prozac, they may not actually need the medication. They may benefit more from examining their relationships or thinking. Therefore, his clientelle may be self-selecting and not an accurate sample of the population in general."
"Oh," I said, feeling less shame and more relief. "I guess that could be right. Maybe his claims are true -- for some people? They just may not be true for me? I'm not failing? I'm not just not thinking hard enough. I'm doing okay and I'm trying hard, and I need to set his claims aside as applying to someone else but not something I have to impose on my own life."
"Right," my therapist said. "Your situation is VERY different. Years of depression, medications not working consistently, years of therapy and working on your negative thoughts and managing emotions, very severe and sometimes suicidal depression.... We've already seen that your depression is beyond just changing your thoughts, and your depression needs chemical regulation. So let's set this book aside. Dr Burns may not be seeing an accurate sample of the population, so we don't have to feel that this applies to you. You're doing a good job."
A couple years later, I read that CBT and self-help books are wonderful -- for people with mild to moderate depression. For people with severe depression, CBT and self-help books can CAUSE MORE HARM. I found that to be true for myself. In severe depression, the chemicals and mood are so beyond one's control that medication is usually needed to reduce the symptoms and severity, and THEN the person can start to make progress in therapy. (Anyone who has been severely depressed knows what I'm talking about regarding inability to change thoughts or feelings at that point.) AFTER the symptoms are not so disabling, most people can indeed benefit from examining their thinking, as I did when my depression finally started getting better.
My depression ended up being part of bipolar disorder. Bipolar depression DOES NOT get better by changing one's thinking! Medication is essential. Once I got on mood stabilizers, for the first time in 7 years I was not clinically depressed. At that point, I could actually make progress in therapy. Examining my thinking *actually caused changes* where before it was basically pointless discussion that my brain couldn't truly fix.
My overall review is:
Don't read this book if you are severely depressed. It may actually cause more damage. Instead, get a good therapist and a good psychiatrist, and after your depression isn't so totally disabling, then you may be able to benefit from the book.
I bought the book after three years of clinical depression and then had the book for four more years of depression, and I only got a few chapters into it. In fact, it really stressed me out. I took it to my therapist's office several times with me feeling upset, brokenhearted, like a failure, desperate, and hopeless.
"This guy, Dr. Burns, says that if you just think differently, you can change how you're feeling," I said, shaking the book in the air. "He tells about all these people that are really depressed and that come to his office and then they aren't depressed anymore. He even says that in his opinion people who take medication for depression don't need to be taking medication, and that if depressed people would just follow Dr Burns' program here in this book, then their depression would go away.
"What am I doing wrong? I've tried for years to change my thinking! Why can't I get better? He and my other CBT therapists say this is supposed to work, supposed to fix everything! But I've tried so hard!!! Is it just not hard enough? I would have killed myself years ago without medication, but he says I shouldn't have needed medication. I would have been dead many times over already without meds. But he says that essentially no one truly needs meds." I was very upset, in agony, near tears.
"Perhaps," my therapist said in his usual calm, reassuring manner, "he is right -- about a certain group of people. Dr Burns is rather famous, especially in certain circles. Many of his clients may have gone to see him because a) of his reputation and b) they can afford his exorbitant prices. For instance, many may be rich wives who are feeling a little down because their cat died or struggling to communicate with their business-obsessed husbands or having relationship issues with their rich but insincere friends. They feel a little down, and if they've gone to their family practice doctor and gotten a prescription for prozac, they may not actually need the medication. They may benefit more from examining their relationships or thinking. Therefore, his clientelle may be self-selecting and not an accurate sample of the population in general."
"Oh," I said, feeling less shame and more relief. "I guess that could be right. Maybe his claims are true -- for some people? They just may not be true for me? I'm not failing? I'm not just not thinking hard enough. I'm doing okay and I'm trying hard, and I need to set his claims aside as applying to someone else but not something I have to impose on my own life."
"Right," my therapist said. "Your situation is VERY different. Years of depression, medications not working consistently, years of therapy and working on your negative thoughts and managing emotions, very severe and sometimes suicidal depression.... We've already seen that your depression is beyond just changing your thoughts, and your depression needs chemical regulation. So let's set this book aside. Dr Burns may not be seeing an accurate sample of the population, so we don't have to feel that this applies to you. You're doing a good job."
A couple years later, I read that CBT and self-help books are wonderful -- for people with mild to moderate depression. For people with severe depression, CBT and self-help books can CAUSE MORE HARM. I found that to be true for myself. In severe depression, the chemicals and mood are so beyond one's control that medication is usually needed to reduce the symptoms and severity, and THEN the person can start to make progress in therapy. (Anyone who has been severely depressed knows what I'm talking about regarding inability to change thoughts or feelings at that point.) AFTER the symptoms are not so disabling, most people can indeed benefit from examining their thinking, as I did when my depression finally started getting better.
My depression ended up being part of bipolar disorder. Bipolar depression DOES NOT get better by changing one's thinking! Medication is essential. Once I got on mood stabilizers, for the first time in 7 years I was not clinically depressed. At that point, I could actually make progress in therapy. Examining my thinking *actually caused changes* where before it was basically pointless discussion that my brain couldn't truly fix.
My overall review is:
Don't read this book if you are severely depressed. It may actually cause more damage. Instead, get a good therapist and a good psychiatrist, and after your depression isn't so totally disabling, then you may be able to benefit from the book.
Read
January 18, 2013اگر از من بپرسید یک کتاب مناسب در زمینه شناخت درمانی که برای عموم مناسب باشد چیست کتاب از حال بد به حال خوب نوشته دکتر دیوید برنز با ترجمه مهدی قره چه داغی پیشنهاد من است.
کتاب در زمینه روانشناسی می باشد ؛ نویسنده معتقد است ریشه بسیاری از مشکلات افراد را باید در عدم شناخت کامل آنان از خود دانست.
شناخت درمانی مبتنی بر نظریه ساده ای است که می گوید به جای حوادث بیرونی افکار و طرز تلقی های شماست که روحیه ی شما را شکل می دهد.
یکی از اصول مهم شناخت درمانی قضیه ای به ظاهر مهمل است و آن اینکه نقطه ضعفهای شما می تواند نقاط قوت شما گردد.نواقص شما می تواند ، اگر آنها را بپذیرید و بر آنها گردن نهید ، تبدیل به بزرگترین سرمایه های شما شود. با تمریناتی که در هر فصل ارائه شده شاید دستیابی به اهداف یاد شده غیر ممکن نباشد.
کتاب شش بخش و ۲۷ فصل دارد ؛ شناخت روحیه ، احساس خوب ،احساس اطمینان ، چگونه با ارتباط بهتر روابط بهتر ایجاد کنیم و.... از مطالبی قابل خواندن در این کتاب است.
کتاب در زمینه روانشناسی می باشد ؛ نویسنده معتقد است ریشه بسیاری از مشکلات افراد را باید در عدم شناخت کامل آنان از خود دانست.
شناخت درمانی مبتنی بر نظریه ساده ای است که می گوید به جای حوادث بیرونی افکار و طرز تلقی های شماست که روحیه ی شما را شکل می دهد.
یکی از اصول مهم شناخت درمانی قضیه ای به ظاهر مهمل است و آن اینکه نقطه ضعفهای شما می تواند نقاط قوت شما گردد.نواقص شما می تواند ، اگر آنها را بپذیرید و بر آنها گردن نهید ، تبدیل به بزرگترین سرمایه های شما شود. با تمریناتی که در هر فصل ارائه شده شاید دستیابی به اهداف یاد شده غیر ممکن نباشد.
کتاب شش بخش و ۲۷ فصل دارد ؛ شناخت روحیه ، احساس خوب ،احساس اطمینان ، چگونه با ارتباط بهتر روابط بهتر ایجاد کنیم و.... از مطالبی قابل خواندن در این کتاب است.
October 1, 2018
کتابی بسیار مفید در مورد روانشناختی و خود یاریگری برای درمان انواع افسردگی، اضطراب و سایر بیماری های روانی رایج
June 12, 2009
This book changed my life. I am now able to recognize my mental patterns and decide if they're beneficial to me or not, and discard the unproductive, depressing, anxiety creating thoughts in favor of good thoughts or no thought at all. It's a workbook & the exercises must be done to get the full effect.
I recently bought this handbook again because I lost the first one and I realized I'm in need of its way of putting my thoughts on paper and weighing/sorting them out.
I recommend this book to everyone, including you. :)
I recently bought this handbook again because I lost the first one and I realized I'm in need of its way of putting my thoughts on paper and weighing/sorting them out.
I recommend this book to everyone, including you. :)
November 17, 2014
I am not ashamed of reading self-help books, or of liking them despite the fact that they do not possess the subtlety or nuance or pacing of the classics. "Show, don't tell" kind of disappears: you are being told more often than you are being shown in these sorts of reads about how to deal with feelings and emotions, which can be off-putting to like-minded fiction buffs, but I feel like my readings in fiction led me here. This is in part because I was seeking counseling in my fiction: counseling in sadness, wisdom on relationships, insights into how to stay enriched in life despite how awful life can be. Fiction can do this for sure. But at some point I felt like the slow-drip of self-help for which I was exploiting fiction - and the pressure I was placing on the form of the novel to grant me these answers - was a means by which I was misreading fiction and doing a disservice to myself. It was time to seek the straight-dope answers from the scientists and to cease reading fiction as if I were grabbing it by the neck and demanding it give me the cure. There's no need to browbeat your writers with such presumptuous expectations. Though I don't want to read with only hedonistic motives in mind, trying to cull major life-tips from novel after novel can undercut the effect of pleasure and can sometimes to lead to a flagrant disregard of the writer's intent. I have probably allowed much of the literature I've read to elude me because I entered each piece with such myopic designs. It was time to purge that need out of my system by reading something more transparently grappling with bullet-point Emotional Assistance. Books pertaining to cognitive behavioral therapy and positive psychology are good for this; self-help books about immersing oneself in God are not. So I mean what most people mean when they say they like a certain genre. "I like jazz" means "I like a small fraction of it, but a fraction big enough to say I dig the genre." I am this way with my 3-4 self-help books.
Now to get to the mechanics of the book itself: The Feeling Good Hanbook definitely reads like David Burns received a lot of feedback about Feeling Good, listened to it, and responded to it. The benefit to this is that his communications chapter and the sections that endorse a benevolent approach to receiving criticism are credible and authentic. These are practices that sound clean theoretically but very messy in practice, but given just how much Burns takes care to account for some of the criticisms given to him, one can tell he does practice what he preaches.
The problem is one cannot necessarily tell from the "real-life stories" listed in the book, because the results are always SO good, and the sessions are always SO spot-on. In every example, the recovery process is expedited, conversations are summarized and filled of unconvincing and ham-fisted exchanges, and the stories all end with dramatic recovery and forever-changed lives. Because the narratives behind the examples seem too simplistic or overwrought, they come off as sounding too unrealistic, and the less credible the specific evidence, the more the reader will resist the thesis.
However, I understand the point of these quasi-fictionalized accounts: they do put the thesis through a digestible and understandable "case study" which aides the reader, and, of course, they beat the salient points into the reader's skull.
The relentless repetition is a necessary evil. First off, it is a book to both be read cover-to-cover and to be referred back to. Passages are repeated verbatim in different sections of the book, but they are passages worth reiterating even as a casual cover-to-cover reader. But most importantly, if it is a pertinent passage to two sections, Burns knows the reader may only refer to one section later. I can tell I will return to the book for guidance, and that is not a bad thing; it is a handbook after all, and a big one at that. Because it's a gargantuan owner's manual for a modern-day mind, it can get fatiguing, and sometimes the overexposure will make the information not stick. But Burns would be making a mistake to not drive some of these points home, especially since some are so counter-intuitive to our instincts or paradoxical in theory.
The communication section is fantastic. The bits about emotional perfectionism - or rather, liberating one's self from the shackles of the pressure of being constantly happy - and emotophobia - needing to be happy because of the fear of being sad and the implications behind sadness - are terrific additions and great corrections to an omission from Feeling Good. I had felt like Feeling Good gave me the tools to manage distorted thoughts but eventually felt like it didn't help tamper a growing obsession with the management itself. It did not give warning that the exercises can get addictive and will not be a panacea. It doesn't really tell you to take the pressure off of yourself to feel good immediately after heeding its advice. My therapist had also said that mood management can become a very unhealthy obsession through which happiness can become more elusive. The Feeling Good Handbook understands that feeling bad often precipitates feeling good. You can feel good about your feelings, even if they're purportedly negative (angry, sad, etc). In other words, Burns took the principle to the next level. I appreciated that a lot, and it helped me catch myself in a bad habit.
It would've taken a really difficult and convoluted series of novels to get these points to remain drilled into my brain. I'm pretty sure, at least.
Now to get to the mechanics of the book itself: The Feeling Good Hanbook definitely reads like David Burns received a lot of feedback about Feeling Good, listened to it, and responded to it. The benefit to this is that his communications chapter and the sections that endorse a benevolent approach to receiving criticism are credible and authentic. These are practices that sound clean theoretically but very messy in practice, but given just how much Burns takes care to account for some of the criticisms given to him, one can tell he does practice what he preaches.
The problem is one cannot necessarily tell from the "real-life stories" listed in the book, because the results are always SO good, and the sessions are always SO spot-on. In every example, the recovery process is expedited, conversations are summarized and filled of unconvincing and ham-fisted exchanges, and the stories all end with dramatic recovery and forever-changed lives. Because the narratives behind the examples seem too simplistic or overwrought, they come off as sounding too unrealistic, and the less credible the specific evidence, the more the reader will resist the thesis.
However, I understand the point of these quasi-fictionalized accounts: they do put the thesis through a digestible and understandable "case study" which aides the reader, and, of course, they beat the salient points into the reader's skull.
The relentless repetition is a necessary evil. First off, it is a book to both be read cover-to-cover and to be referred back to. Passages are repeated verbatim in different sections of the book, but they are passages worth reiterating even as a casual cover-to-cover reader. But most importantly, if it is a pertinent passage to two sections, Burns knows the reader may only refer to one section later. I can tell I will return to the book for guidance, and that is not a bad thing; it is a handbook after all, and a big one at that. Because it's a gargantuan owner's manual for a modern-day mind, it can get fatiguing, and sometimes the overexposure will make the information not stick. But Burns would be making a mistake to not drive some of these points home, especially since some are so counter-intuitive to our instincts or paradoxical in theory.
The communication section is fantastic. The bits about emotional perfectionism - or rather, liberating one's self from the shackles of the pressure of being constantly happy - and emotophobia - needing to be happy because of the fear of being sad and the implications behind sadness - are terrific additions and great corrections to an omission from Feeling Good. I had felt like Feeling Good gave me the tools to manage distorted thoughts but eventually felt like it didn't help tamper a growing obsession with the management itself. It did not give warning that the exercises can get addictive and will not be a panacea. It doesn't really tell you to take the pressure off of yourself to feel good immediately after heeding its advice. My therapist had also said that mood management can become a very unhealthy obsession through which happiness can become more elusive. The Feeling Good Handbook understands that feeling bad often precipitates feeling good. You can feel good about your feelings, even if they're purportedly negative (angry, sad, etc). In other words, Burns took the principle to the next level. I appreciated that a lot, and it helped me catch myself in a bad habit.
It would've taken a really difficult and convoluted series of novels to get these points to remain drilled into my brain. I'm pretty sure, at least.
July 23, 2014
خوندن این کتاب رو به همه توصیه می کنم . این کتاب به شما کمک می کنه خطاهایی که در شناختتون هست رو اصلاح کنین و انرژی روانیتون رو ذخیره کنید . از اونجایی که همه آدم ها از این خطاهای شناختی دارن و باعث می شه حالشون بد باشه پس همه می تونن برای رسیدن به حال خوب از این کتاب استفاده کنن . البته این کتاب جای تشخیص و درمان روانشناسی رو نمی گیره و اگه کسی مشکلات حادی داره باید به درمانگر مراجعه کنه .
Read
February 14, 2016محتوای قوی نداشت. اونجور که باید افسردگی رو به چالش نکشیده بود. مثل نوشته های زرد بود. فکر نمی کردم یه روانشناس انقد پیش پا افتاده بنویسه. از مسائل محدودی هم حرف زده بود. خوندنش توصیه نمی شه ازین که وقتم رو پاش گذاشتم عصبی و افسرده تر شدم.
November 11, 2009
hopefully, I can get through this very thick book, but I LOVE the premise, and heard about it from an Education Week talk on battling depression. The speaker was a 20 year or so experienced Psychiatrist who now works w/ LDS Social Services, and rarely uses medication more than very short term, and has seen TONS of non-relapse success with cognitive therapy--anyway, that's what this somewhat older, but still best-selling book is about--except in extreme cases, he gives lots of tools for controlling our misguided/distorted thoughts and therefore controlling our moods and emotions---my life's goal! Really hopeful and positive though, w/o being narcissistic-a lot of focus on the benefit of good relationships, etc.--more later, after I've read past ch 3!
December 30, 2007
I don't know. So far, I'm not finding this very helpful. Say it's the depression talking if you will, but I feel like I should be on the waiting list for the Oprah show when I'm reading this. I'll finish it... but I have a "good feeling" that $20 I spent on it would have been better used somewhere else.
March 9, 2012
This is a great book for people with anxiety disorder. Contains some worksheets as well as great tips for making it through panic attacks.
January 8, 2020
من کلی کتاب خودشناسی و انگیزشی خوندم
کا انگیزه میدن و بعد از یه مدت تو ذهن کمرنگ میشن
اما این کتاب تمرین داره و عالیه
و لازم میشه بعد ها هم بهش مراجعه کنی
کا انگیزه میدن و بعد از یه مدت تو ذهن کمرنگ میشن
اما این کتاب تمرین داره و عالیه
و لازم میشه بعد ها هم بهش مراجعه کنی
February 23, 2016
Stupid book gave me anxiety about how to fix my anxiety. I gives you a guilt trip in the beginning about not taking the exercises seriously enough. I got rid of it.
November 14, 2011
I am currently reading the book. I think that the book is really good and is very on point with different kind of issues. The book really tackles many issues that we face everyday.I think that the book is really helpful for figuring out what is bothering you and how to solve many problems such as depression and other different kinds of phobias. The book has taught me several things so far on how to express my feelings and how to get to the bottom of what ever is bothering you. I think that anybody who has been dealing with depression should definatley read this book and use the methods in the book to help solve whatever issues he or she may be having internally. I am pretty sure that when ever i feel down or uneasy i will you the methods that Dr. David Burns talks about that can be helpful. In my own opion the book its self is wonderful i am almost finish reading it and it is so helpful and it is helping me deal with my issues with social phobias and fear of failure. It is going to help me complete certain goal and to overcome my phobias and depression.
August 27, 2013
SUCH a good book! I was given this by a friend who has shelves upon shelves of self help books, and I was very skeptical at first. To me, all self help books are just fluff, I mean can it be that easy to improve your life just from reading a book? YES! This book is pretty intimidating with its large size but it is absolutely chalk-full of amazing information and ways to deal with the everyday stresses of life. I will recommend this book to every person who wants to change their life for the better.
This is my go-to Self Help Bible, it really has EVERYTHING, and it's all so incredibly helpful! If you're thinking about getting it, DO IT.
This is my go-to Self Help Bible, it really has EVERYTHING, and it's all so incredibly helpful! If you're thinking about getting it, DO IT.
September 21, 2012
This is the newer edition of THE book that was used in the clinical trials comparing antidepressants to cognitive-behavioral therapy, in which, believe it or not, they were found equally effective. I wish I had learned about this book in medical school! Not only have I found it extremely helpful on a personal level, but I can't think of a single person I've ever met who shouldn't read this book. What a helpful way of untwisting all the horrible things we and our minds do to ourselves.
January 21, 2020
I found this book extremely insightful. This is a self-help book, usually intended for someone struggling from longstanding and tough emotions and feelings, such as depression, guilt, anger, stress, anxiety, relationship trouble etc. However, I feel this book is a good-read for anyone and everyone who is proactive about mental health and wishes not to become victim of his/her own thoughts. The book points out common distortions in thought that each one of us is vulnerable to in the face of tough situations, societal influences and our own conditioning that we go through as a result of our upbringing and the people we come in contact with. These cognitive distortions are self-defeating and result into suffering and pain.
The book provides multiple practical ways in which one can notice these distortions and replace them with more rational responses. Some of these ways are journaling based where you would note down the thought that is bringing you down, notice the distortion in it and replace it with a rational response. This method over time results into replacing the distorted thoughts with the rational ones and thereby reducing the suffering. Some of the cognitive distortions mentioned in the book are - All or nothing thinking (eg.- My whole effort has gone to waste.), Personalization (eg. I'm responsible for that mishap.), Labelling (eg. I'm a loser.), Emotional reasoning (eg. I feel like a waste, so I must be one.), Should Statements (eg. I should be productive.), Mental Filter (eg. There is no good in the world.) etc. The book is filled with stories about people who have applied these methods and gained substantial result. It also contains, in a very structured and easy-to-implement way, other strategies (such as - disarming other person through agreement, empathy and self-love, sticking to your guns and being assertive in the face of tough conversations, getting to the bottom of the thoughts) that one can implement and thereby find stability in the midst of turbulent and energy-draining emotions.
As someone who has been practicing mindfulness meditation and awareness from few years, I found the book an excellent source of common pitfalls in the usually benign-looking thoughts. This book and the mindfulness practice complement each other for me and provide a more practical way to keep a smile and sanity in this fast-paced, competitive and overwhelming corporate rat-race.
The book provides multiple practical ways in which one can notice these distortions and replace them with more rational responses. Some of these ways are journaling based where you would note down the thought that is bringing you down, notice the distortion in it and replace it with a rational response. This method over time results into replacing the distorted thoughts with the rational ones and thereby reducing the suffering. Some of the cognitive distortions mentioned in the book are - All or nothing thinking (eg.- My whole effort has gone to waste.), Personalization (eg. I'm responsible for that mishap.), Labelling (eg. I'm a loser.), Emotional reasoning (eg. I feel like a waste, so I must be one.), Should Statements (eg. I should be productive.), Mental Filter (eg. There is no good in the world.) etc. The book is filled with stories about people who have applied these methods and gained substantial result. It also contains, in a very structured and easy-to-implement way, other strategies (such as - disarming other person through agreement, empathy and self-love, sticking to your guns and being assertive in the face of tough conversations, getting to the bottom of the thoughts) that one can implement and thereby find stability in the midst of turbulent and energy-draining emotions.
As someone who has been practicing mindfulness meditation and awareness from few years, I found the book an excellent source of common pitfalls in the usually benign-looking thoughts. This book and the mindfulness practice complement each other for me and provide a more practical way to keep a smile and sanity in this fast-paced, competitive and overwhelming corporate rat-race.
August 14, 2021
this book practically reprogrammed my mind and the way it works, it made me feel life is easier than I thought. can it help everyone who are struggling with sadness and anxiety? yes. will it eventually help them to become more aware, logical and feel better about themselves and their lifes? Well... it depends. this isn't a book you can read and read, but this is a hand's on project for improving your mental health, if you want it to be helpful, you need to do it exercises, trust me, training your mind can change your life.
May 14, 2014
از آدم «اصطلاحا» نرمالی که با احساسهای بدی از جمله ناراحتی و خجالت و ترس و اضطراب و حس تحقیر و خشم و ... مواجهه، تا افرادی که تشخیصهای جدی روانپزشکی دارن و دارو مصرف میکنن و حتی سابقهی بستری شدن دارن، هر کسی که اون مرکزیت نسبی فکرشو از دست نداده و قوهی درکش سرجاشه، میتونه از این کتاب «در عمل» بهره ببره.
موضوع، ممنوع دونستن حس بد نیست. هدف، تقویت هوشیاری و توانایی رصد افکار اتوماتیک و احساساتیه که به دنبالشون میاد. اینکه احساساتمون، نامتناسب با وقایع نباشن.
حتی مجموعه نظریاتش رو علاوه بر درگیریهای ذهنی روزمره و درگیریهای حادتری که انسان رو واقعا مستأصل میکنن و کارش رو به دکتر و دارو و بستری شدن میکشونن، در ادامه روی مسائل مختلفی از جمله تنبلی و به تعویق انداختن کارها، مهارتهای ارتباطی، کارجویی و مصاحبههای شغلی هم پیاده کرده.
به نظرم، به «ترس از مرگ»، سطحی پرداخته. طبعا واسه منی که تو سال گذشته، «رواندرمانی اگزیستانسیال» و «مامان و معنی زندگی (داستان «هفت درس پیشرفته در درمان سوگ») » از یالوم رو خوندم، پرسیدن یک سوال ساده و بستن قضیه در چند صفحه، خیلی سطحی حساب میشه. ولی باز هم خارج از منطق محسوب نمیشه.
دست به قلم بردن و «انجام» تمریناتش خیلی مهمه. این یه کتاب ِ «فقط خواندنی» نیست. یه ابزار تعاملی هم هست؛ که اتفاقا قدرت تأثیرگذاریش هم توی همین رویکرد عملیش نهفتهست.
شخصا کتابهای فاز مثبت جوگیرانه تو زندگیم خوندم، فاز خودکشی و افسردگی بلندمدت و قرصهای جورواجور و پرونده درمانی و ... هم کم نداشتم. عملا حس کردم این نظریات، اگه به کار بسته بشن، شعاری نیستن. بیتوجهی بهش رو تجربه کردم، سه سال نوسان روانی رو با تمام وجود حس کردم، و در مقطعی، عمل کردن بهش رو هم امتحان کردم. به نظرم کتاب خیلی خوبیه.
موضوع، ممنوع دونستن حس بد نیست. هدف، تقویت هوشیاری و توانایی رصد افکار اتوماتیک و احساساتیه که به دنبالشون میاد. اینکه احساساتمون، نامتناسب با وقایع نباشن.
حتی مجموعه نظریاتش رو علاوه بر درگیریهای ذهنی روزمره و درگیریهای حادتری که انسان رو واقعا مستأصل میکنن و کارش رو به دکتر و دارو و بستری شدن میکشونن، در ادامه روی مسائل مختلفی از جمله تنبلی و به تعویق انداختن کارها، مهارتهای ارتباطی، کارجویی و مصاحبههای شغلی هم پیاده کرده.
به نظرم، به «ترس از مرگ»، سطحی پرداخته. طبعا واسه منی که تو سال گذشته، «رواندرمانی اگزیستانسیال» و «مامان و معنی زندگی (داستان «هفت درس پیشرفته در درمان سوگ») » از یالوم رو خوندم، پرسیدن یک سوال ساده و بستن قضیه در چند صفحه، خیلی سطحی حساب میشه. ولی باز هم خارج از منطق محسوب نمیشه.
دست به قلم بردن و «انجام» تمریناتش خیلی مهمه. این یه کتاب ِ «فقط خواندنی» نیست. یه ابزار تعاملی هم هست؛ که اتفاقا قدرت تأثیرگذاریش هم توی همین رویکرد عملیش نهفتهست.
شخصا کتابهای فاز مثبت جوگیرانه تو زندگیم خوندم، فاز خودکشی و افسردگی بلندمدت و قرصهای جورواجور و پرونده درمانی و ... هم کم نداشتم. عملا حس کردم این نظریات، اگه به کار بسته بشن، شعاری نیستن. بیتوجهی بهش رو تجربه کردم، سه سال نوسان روانی رو با تمام وجود حس کردم، و در مقطعی، عمل کردن بهش رو هم امتحان کردم. به نظرم کتاب خیلی خوبیه.
September 15, 2010
Overwhelmed? Stressed? Feel like you're ready to slide into a dark abyss?
This is the book version of a cognitive behavioral therapy session with a psychiatrist. The examples, advice and exercises help you step back from your feelings, thoughts and behavior and take a clearer, more factual look at what's really going on in and around you.
It's a tome at just over 700 pages and covers topics such as Why People Procrastinate, Social Anxiety and Five Secrets of Intimate Communication, all divided into six major sections with an Index.
This is the book version of a cognitive behavioral therapy session with a psychiatrist. The examples, advice and exercises help you step back from your feelings, thoughts and behavior and take a clearer, more factual look at what's really going on in and around you.
It's a tome at just over 700 pages and covers topics such as Why People Procrastinate, Social Anxiety and Five Secrets of Intimate Communication, all divided into six major sections with an Index.
Read
May 1, 2016ممکن است روش خلع سلاح را نپسندید، زیرا وقتی کسی از شما انتقاد میکند، احساس خشم می کنید و صدایی در درون شما فریاد برمیاورد: حق با من است، حق دارم ازخودم دفاع کنم؛ اگرتسلیم این ندای درونی شوید و این وسوسه همیشه قدرتمندی است، تن به جدلی بی فایده و تقریبا همیشه بی سرانجام میدهید. بحث و جدل با انتقاد کننده تقریبا هرگز به نتیجه نمیرسد، اما در تایید منتقد حرف زدن همیشه موثر است و تاثیر جادویی دارد.
October 31, 2015
کتاب خوبیه. مشکلاتتون رو می تونید باهاش حل کنید
July 23, 2021
در این کتاب از یک روش درمانی جدید تحت عنوان «شناخت درمانی» حرف زده میشود که کاملا تصادفی، کااملا تصادفی همان رئوس روانکاوی فروید و لکان و یونگ را دارد. تازه همانها را هم ندارد، صرفا بخشی از هرکدام را کِش رفته. کتاب بسیار بدی بود (بهعنوان یک کتاب علمی).
August 1, 2018
See my review of the book. This is a great handbook and there probably is more info in it. But I would suggest that you don’t need this handbook. I think the book is plenty helpful and only $5 on Amazon. Just my two cents.
September 19, 2010
it is extraordinary amazing,usefull& essential.
ده روش برای سالم اندیشی:
1- خطاهای شناختی را بررسی کنید.
2- شواهد را بررسی کنید.
3- روش معیار دوگانه: همان تشویقی که از دوستانتان می کنید مشمول خود کنید. به خودتان اعتماد به نفس بدهید.
4- روش تجربی: آزمون کردن افکار
5- اندیشیدن در سایه های خاکستری: همه چیز صفر یا صد نیست.
6- روش بررسی: آیا دیگران هم همین نظر را دارند؟ انسان بودن هیچ اشکالی ندارد.
7- تعریف کردن واژه ها: به این توجه کنید که چه می توانید بکنید تا بیاموزید و رشد کنید و از آنچه هستید قدمی فراتر نهید. اگر وضع به شکلی که می خواهید نیست از خود بپرسید که چه کاری می توانید انجام دهید.
8- روش علم معانی: به جای باید از عباراتی مانندبهتر است، شایسته تر است، ... استفاده کنید. خود را تشویق کنید و از سرزنش خود بکاهید.
9- دوباره نسبت دادن: نقش خود را در ایجاد مشکل بپذیرید و به جای سرزنش خود از تجربه درس بیاموزید.
10- تحلیل سود و زیان: عزت نفس به شادی، شادمانی، ثمربخشی و صمیمیت می انجامد. من به آن نظامی از ارزش ها معتقدم که عزت نفس را زیاد می کند. عزت نفس به ایمان می مانئ. می تواند کوه ها را تکان دهد.
برگه تحلیل سود و زیان:
امتیازات این باور زیان های این باور
انعطاف پذیر و خلاق باشید. از انواع و اقسام روش ها استفاده کنید تا کذب هر یک از افکار منفی خود را بیابید می توانید اروش پیکان عمودی هم استفاده کنید
روش پیکان عمودی:
مثال: ااگر بیشتر درس نخوانم مردود می شوم
چرا نگران مردود شدنم؟
ممکن است در کل دوره مردود شوم
چرا نگران مردود شدنم؟
آدم شکست خورده ای می شوم و دیگران به من بها نمی دهند.
چرا نگران بها ندادن هستم؟
احساس بدی پیدا می کنم چرا که برای خوشبخت بودن به تایید دیگران نیاز دارم و
....
ده روش برای سالم اندیشی:
1- خطاهای شناختی را بررسی کنید.
2- شواهد را بررسی کنید.
3- روش معیار دوگانه: همان تشویقی که از دوستانتان می کنید مشمول خود کنید. به خودتان اعتماد به نفس بدهید.
4- روش تجربی: آزمون کردن افکار
5- اندیشیدن در سایه های خاکستری: همه چیز صفر یا صد نیست.
6- روش بررسی: آیا دیگران هم همین نظر را دارند؟ انسان بودن هیچ اشکالی ندارد.
7- تعریف کردن واژه ها: به این توجه کنید که چه می توانید بکنید تا بیاموزید و رشد کنید و از آنچه هستید قدمی فراتر نهید. اگر وضع به شکلی که می خواهید نیست از خود بپرسید که چه کاری می توانید انجام دهید.
8- روش علم معانی: به جای باید از عباراتی مانندبهتر است، شایسته تر است، ... استفاده کنید. خود را تشویق کنید و از سرزنش خود بکاهید.
9- دوباره نسبت دادن: نقش خود را در ایجاد مشکل بپذیرید و به جای سرزنش خود از تجربه درس بیاموزید.
10- تحلیل سود و زیان: عزت نفس به شادی، شادمانی، ثمربخشی و صمیمیت می انجامد. من به آن نظامی از ارزش ها معتقدم که عزت نفس را زیاد می کند. عزت نفس به ایمان می مانئ. می تواند کوه ها را تکان دهد.
برگه تحلیل سود و زیان:
امتیازات این باور زیان های این باور
انعطاف پذیر و خلاق باشید. از انواع و اقسام روش ها استفاده کنید تا کذب هر یک از افکار منفی خود را بیابید می توانید اروش پیکان عمودی هم استفاده کنید
روش پیکان عمودی:
مثال: ااگر بیشتر درس نخوانم مردود می شوم
چرا نگران مردود شدنم؟
ممکن است در کل دوره مردود شوم
چرا نگران مردود شدنم؟
آدم شکست خورده ای می شوم و دیگران به من بها نمی دهند.
چرا نگران بها ندادن هستم؟
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June 6, 2019
Преди десетина години случайно попаднах на най-ключовата книга на Дейвид Бърнс - Да се чувстваш добре - и така се отвори един нов свят пред очите ми, светът на когнитивно-поведенческата терапия. За мен това си остана единствената що-годе полезна книга при случаите на лека и средна депресия. Чела съм много ръководства и мемоари, но никъде нещата не са предадени по този систематизиран и достъпен начин.
В The Feeling Good Handbook доразвива идеите си и ги допълва с повече примери и упражнения. Не е четиво за свободното време за любопитни, а по-скоро е ръководство за хора с тези проблеми как да преодолеят негативните мисли, които според д-р Бърнс са истинската причина за депресиите и тревожността. Оттогава възникнаха и залязоха много теории и обяснения за депресиите и тревожността, но си мисля, че все още може да се извлекат полезни навици от прочетеното. Интересна ми се видя главата и за преодоляването на прокрастинацията и перфекционизма.
Слагам три звезди, защото на места добри��т доктор леко дразни с арогантността си, но това си е лично впечатление. Може би и корицата е малко виновна за това впечатление, защото този човек за мен има от т.нар. punchable faces.
Като заключение само искам да спомена, че при тежки депресии, тежки суицидни мисли и т.н. са нужни мерки, различни от четенето на тази книга. За останалите по-леки случаи бих я препоръчала като едно много добро начало, макар и доста едностранчиво.
В The Feeling Good Handbook доразвива идеите си и ги допълва с повече примери и упражнения. Не е четиво за свободното време за любопитни, а по-скоро е ръководство за хора с тези проблеми как да преодолеят негативните мисли, които според д-р Бърнс са истинската причина за депресиите и тревожността. Оттогава възникнаха и залязоха много теории и обяснения за депресиите и тревожността, но си мисля, че все още може да се извлекат полезни навици от прочетеното. Интересна ми се видя главата и за преодоляването на прокрастинацията и перфекционизма.
Слагам три звезди, защото на места добри��т доктор леко дразни с арогантността си, но това си е лично впечатление. Може би и корицата е малко виновна за това впечатление, защото този човек за мен има от т.нар. punchable faces.
Като заключение само искам да спомена, че при тежки депресии, тежки суицидни мисли и т.н. са нужни мерки, различни от четенето на тази книга. За останалите по-леки случаи бих я препоръчала като едно много добро начало, макар и доста едностранчиво.
January 22, 2022
I see I gave this book 4 stars a few years ago and I get why; the theory and techniques make logical sense and the exercises are laid out in a way that’s easy to follow. I was seeing a therapist at the time who I emphatically told that I was not interested in psychotherapy, I just wanted to learn how to change some of my thinking patterns and habits that were resulting in anxiety and extreme negativity, and this book was at the top of her recommended reading list for that style of therapy. But, 3 years later, what stuck with me the most was that the book really seems to be geared toward men, and most of the examples are distractingly set in a previous generation/adhere to traditional gender roles. And he also says stuff like women are naturally really social, therefore social anxiety is more of a problem for men. That is just so out of touch and left me feeling terribly misunderstood. :/ I think the book has great bones, but it is desperately in need of a new edition and, I’ll say it, a female co-author. I also think maybe it’s a good book for therapists to use as a reference guide, maybe assigning certain exercises for homework and discussing results in subsequent sessions, but maybe not so much for some people to read and work through on their own.
July 31, 2012
When I first read this book, it was difficult to understand. I was young without any comprehension of bipolar or why it was happening to me. Then, the concept on dealing with difficult people and "disarmament" was stated in this book. I read it, and then re-read it on how to disarm those who intimidated me. It worked perfectly when I tried it. I kept reading. I discovered that the tasks Dr. Burns asks of us should be viewed with a "trial run" or a "try it and see" mentality.
In his previous editions, there were no "confidence measures'. Later editions may include these measures. A "confidence measure" is when you rate yourself from "0 to 10" with 10 being the best, and then you see where you are and what you have to work on. A rating of 7+ means you are confidence with your choices. Anything with a 6 or below rating, means you may need some revisions on your choices.
In his previous editions, there were no "confidence measures'. Later editions may include these measures. A "confidence measure" is when you rate yourself from "0 to 10" with 10 being the best, and then you see where you are and what you have to work on. A rating of 7+ means you are confidence with your choices. Anything with a 6 or below rating, means you may need some revisions on your choices.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2008
The Feeling Good Handbook outlines cognitive errors that people make, and it is so helpful in cognitive therapy. It makes things clear and easy to understand. I also have The Feeling Good book... but I found that this handbook was much easier to follow along with, it had a better layout, and an easier format to continually refer back to. It says I read it 5 times, that wasnt' cover to cover, this book just is so handy to keep going back to.
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