Mental Health Therapy Material

- Mind over Mood; D.G. Green & C.A. Padesky Guildford Press 1995. - The Changeways Manual; by Paterson McLean, Alden E. Koch 1996 Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre - UBC Pavilions - Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder; Marsha Linehan

1) Simple Awareness Thought distortions are extremely powerful, in part because they have probably been operating for so long that they have become automatic. Increasing your awareness of your most common distortions can help in two ways. First, anytime you make an automatic process conscious, it tends to make the process less efficient. When experienced typists what their hands and concentrate on moving their fingers their speed slows down considerably. What is bad for typing is good for thinking, because you want to disrupt those thought distortions. Second, when thoughts occur without your awareness you cannot bring your critical mind to look at them. It is like signing papers that come across your desk without reading them; how would you know if there were any errors in them? Increasing your awareness of your most common distortions can help you to examine your thoughts for errors, mistaken assumptions, and biases. 2) Thought Challenging Sometimes you will find yourself thi...

Using faulty assumptions is not the only way to produce a distorted perception when you are evaluating a situation in your life. It is possible to begin with accurate assumptions and still reach incorrect conclusions if your thinking is biased in some way. There are many different biases and they all work in distinct ways. Read each description and consider which biases you use the most often. All or Nothing Thinking With all or nothing thinking you see things as being either black or white, never as shades of grey. You are fat or thin, smart or stupid, depressed or happy, competent or incompetent, etc. The same can  apply to others. A relationship can be either perfect or horrible, and someone can be considerate or completely self centered. All or nothing thinking relates to perfectionism, because the "good"category is usually defined absolutely. You have to conform exactly to your expectation of what you are accomplishing, and if you make a little mistake, you may as wel...

The faulty assumptions we described are only a partial list of some common irrational beliefs. After reading through them, think about what other kinds of faulty assumptions or irrational beliefs that you hold. -Write down at least two of your own Faulty Assumptions that play a central role in your life. The Classics Some of our favorite songs bring up the same emotions every time we listen to them. In the same way, most of us have "Classic" faulty assumptions that come back over and over again, and always have the same effect on our mood. It is important to become aware of your classics, because it is these thoughts which have the most powerful effect on your mood. -Think about or look over the faulty assumptions in the last post. -Which of these seems to have the biggest impact on your life? -Write out in your own words your "classic" faulty assumption. -Explain to yourself how this assumption affects your life. -When does it occur? -What are the effe...

We do not respond emotionally to the world around us, but to the way we interpret the world. There are two primary ways in which our interpretations, or appraisals, can become distorted. First, it is possible to base our appraisals on inaccurate assumptions. If we start with the wrong assumptions about ourselves, others, or life in general, we will end up with inaccurate appraisals. Second, it is possible to interpret the situation at hand in a biased way, whether our assumptions are correct or not. Faulty Assumptions As we grow up we develop a set of general rules about how the world works. We realize that if we let go of something in mid-air it will drop downward. We know that if something is glowing red that it is probably hot. We understand that it is best to look both ways before crossing the street. Most of these rules turn out to be correct, but occasionally an inaccurate one slips by. As well, sometimes a rule that is usually true turns out to be false in a particular situa...

Exercise One Each of the following statements follows the irrational thought processes specified in Module 1.1. For each of these statements, decide whether it falls under (a) Catastrophizing, (b) Being Judgmental, or (c) Not Assuming Responsibility. Then write two Challenges to each statement, similarly to Module 1.2, Example One. 1. I need to be sure to decide. 2. If others criticize me, I must have done something wrong. 3. I should never hurt anyone. 4. I am inferior. 5. It is terrible when things go wrong. 6. I can do things only when I'm in the mood. 7. Making mistakes is terrible. 8. I should help everyone who needs it. 9. People must love me or I will be miserable. 10. I must never show any weakness. 11. Stronger people don't ask for help. 12. I should be able to control my kids/partner's behavior. 13. I should be terribly worried about threatening situations. 14. Self discipline is too hard to achieve. 15. My emotions can't be con...

Example 1 Each of the numbered statements follows the irrational thinking processes specified in Module 1.1. If possible, read aloud to yourself or with a partner the following statement, in bold, which follows a more rational thinking process. 1. It is awful if people don't approve of me or my actions It is pleasant and often advantageous to have people's approval but I can survive quite well without it by gradually learning to accept, like, enjoy, respect, and depend on myself. 2. I must not make mistakes or do poorly. To make mistakes is to be human. Striving to improve is satisfying bu striving to be perfect will only make me anxious and less effective. Accepting past mistakes calmly enables me to learn from them. 3. I deserve to feel guilty over my past wrong-doings or mistakes, and ashamed for my "symptoms". Without guilt and condemnation, how can I improve? My wrong-doings, mistakes, "symptoms" make me human, I will accept myself with them ...

Rational Emotive Therapy is based upon a cognitive behavioral approach developed by Albert Ellis. The goal of this module is to foster a better understanding of how our thoughts influence our emotions and how modifications in our thoughts can lead to a positive change in our emotional state. Three components are: 1) Event - for example; divorce, marriage, new job 2) Thoughts - this involves our beliefs, attitudes, and interpretations 3) Feelings - this involves an emotional reaction and may be experience both physically and behaviorally [Diagram] EVENT -> (do not cause) -> FEELINGS EVENT -> THOUGHTS --> FEELINGS According to RET, events do not cause feelings. It is not the event but how we interpret the event (thoughts) that lead to feelings. Problems in RET 1. RET is not a communication skill (Module 3: Communication and Assertiveness soon). It is intended to decrease intensity and duration of feelings, but not to eliminate them. 2. It is not the only...