Tag: CBT

Drive the Feeling

jm@ownhope.org0 Comments

Most of us tend to think about emotions as either good or bad, positive or negative but every emotion can be helpful and destructive.  One goal of DBT and CBT is to help folks use emotions more effectively; to understand the purpose of each emotion and to decide how to use emotions (if at all) in achieving our objectives.  One important step is to determine whether the context or situation reasonably connect to the feeling. If they do, then we work towards figuring out how to abide by the emotion effectively. If they don’t then we act opposite the emotion. …

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Get your Greek on…

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Did you know that much of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is based on the work of the Athenian philosophers (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle)?  One common skill taught in CBT is Socratic questions which can be used as a means of stepping away from our initial (and provocative) interpretation of an event and coming to a more reasonable conclusion. Socratic reasoning takes a conclusion (or anything really) and begins with a  process of asking open-ended questions.  This can be helpful when we are struggling with depression or anxiety because we are more likely to come to the worst possible meaning of …

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Self-Validation

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DBT and CBT are both pretty big on changing how you think as a way of changing how you feel.  Both recognize cognitive distortions which are faulty patterns of thinking that develop during periods of distress and/or can act as a catalyst for distress.  One component of both therapies involves helping folks change their thinking habits so they are less vulnerable to high levels of distress and are less prone to engaging in ineffective behaviors. One way to challenge ineffective thinking is to engage in self-validation. There are six levels of validation, for this post we’re going to focus on …

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Nightmares

jm@ownhope.org0 Comments

Nightmares are not something you may have to live with.  There are both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic options that may help reduce nightmares.  The DBT and CBT protocols involve a combination of relaxation exercises, writing the nightmare out (with a different ending) and imagining the nightmare (with the new ending) before sleep and throughout the day. If the nightmares are related to PTSD or a trauma event an additional option includes EMDR which is specifically designed to help those with traumatic memories eliminate or reduce the distress associated with the memories and change their thinking about the trauma. CBT and DBT …

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