Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies Audiobook Audio CD – Audiobook, February 27, 2012

The "anonymous" groups tell their attendees to stop their "stinking thinking." Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that "action springs from being." These might be seen as two sides of the same coin. What we do comes from who and what we are. Except for involuntary actions, some thought--even if it is very minute--precedes all of our actions. Additionally, there is the act of "willing." Yes, there are habits which are so ingrained, so compulsive, even seemingly necessities that it might not appear to be so. Most of us are accustomed to looking at these things as addictions. Saint Augustine in his Confessions,  The Confessions of St. Augustine , speaks about these. To paraphrase him, he calls these a perversion of any of our passions, which then get out of hand: we go from an evil, to a habit, to a compulsion and then to a necessity. He is someone speaking from personal experience. He comes to call it the "Law of Sin," which he gets from Saint Paul's Letters to the Romans (and Galatians). He gives a great definition too! He says, "the law of sin is the fierce force of habit, by which the mind is drawn and held even against its will, and yet deservedly because it had fallen willfully into the habit" (Book 8, 5 in the Frank Sheed translation shown above). Obviously, he is also describing the power of these things which have a binding effect.After his conversion (in Book 9, 1 of the Confessions), Augustine looked back at what took place and one of his questions to God is quoted by John Piper in Chapter 1 of his book  The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God's Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin (The Swans Are Not Silent) . Augustine asks, "During all those years [of rebellion], where was my free will?" [emphasis is Piper's]. Yes, habit was that strong. It had become necessity! As the prayer continued, he asked, "What was the hidden, secret place from which it was summoned in a moment, so that I might bend my neck to your easy yoke?" This was the confirming that the will is never overcome completely. There is always a way back. This necessarily must include God, or if you must, a Higher Power (even if we are not conscious of it). This is described masterfully by Dr. Gerald G. May, M.D. in  Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions . One of the things that Piper stresses is that Augustine has a new focus, something "sweeter than all pleasure" on which he can occupy his thoughts rather than the sinful pleasures that bound him and how he can feel about all of this. There's not much more we can say about this in the space available here.What John Piper discovers in the reflections of Augustine and presents to his readers is an excellent example of the power of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. There has to be a change in our thinking, in the way our mind is allowed to operate or behave before we can feel different about things and before we can expect a change in our actions or behavior. This book spills a lot of ink on the variety of what most of us have difficulty "reigning in" in our lives. It does not have to be read in order. Simply look up what behavior you want to change, go to the chapter, and deal with the issues at work behind the behavior. You may be surprised at the effectiveness of this method. You may also enjoy doing it. It can prove to be very satisfying. You may also come to learn, as difficult as it might be to swallow, that once we start, God is always willing to supply the help we need.

I got this book because I am interested in alternatives to being heavily medicated for emotional/ psychiatric distress. I learned so much from this book and it is written so you can do exercises and work your way up in CBT. also it tells you about the different types, how they work, etc. I used to always be rules by my ever changing emotions and by intrusive thoughts. But I can get away from that now most times. At the end of the book there are excellent recommendations for other books to add to the learning. If you read this book you will dig up stuff about yourself and be able to step back and observe it all. If you don't want to be medicated heavily to escape your inner monolog, then definitely read this book. I had only heard of CBT mentioned in articles, and it sounded promising so I got this. And happy to say, no mood stabilizers or antipsychotics for two years now. No hospitalizations. I do occasiosnally have my moments, but I get through them. And they aren't near as bad as they were even when I was on the heavy duty drugs. My life is much better for reading and putting into practice the lessons in this book.

This is an exceptional book with tons of practical and accessible information to help people struggling with emotional issues such as depression, anger, and anxiety. It is comprehensive in its scope covering everything from CBT concepts, sleep hygiene and mindfulness. This is a book that can help everyone from a person wanting to improve the quality of their life to a mental health professional working with clients.There were two minor things that I noticed. First, the book appears to be written by an individual from the U.K. There are several instances where the British spelling of words are used (e.g. offence versus offense). (I initially thought the words were misspelled!) Second, some of the worksheets are little difficult to read and were not optimally transposed for the Kindle version.Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone interesting in learning more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and how to apply it in their daily life. It's easily to understand and fun to read! A great buy for your Kindle and an exceptional resource for self-help/mental health!

This is a great introductory book to the world of CBT. The author uses easy-to-understand language and uses helpful diagrams and worksheets to aide in explanation.The book contains great information on thoughts and emotions in early chapters, and then provides information on more specific issues such as obsessions, depression, and anxiety, in later chapters.Although classified as a self-help book, I recommend this book to students and practitioner's of CBT as it is a useful reference to help get your head around the nuts and bolts of CBT. The book also will help you grasp the basic principles of CBT in a way that will allow you to explain it to your clients. You can also recommend that your clients read chapters of the book whilst they undergo therapy.Don't be swayed or embarrassed by the "For Dummies" title-- this is really a great book on CBT written by experienced CBT therapists who will help you understand what CBT is all about.

I bought this book on the recommendation of my doctor. The book is very accessible and has lots of excellent suggestions and techniques. I have found it very helpful as a tool to help me get to grips with some problem areas in my life.Overall, this book is an excellent introduction to CBT and I would heartily recommend it.

While this book is well written and covers its material well, it limits itself to only a couple of the applications of CBT theory. Its utility is limited but would be a useful beginning point for the layman, but overly simplistic for the MH professional.

Arrived on time and in fairly good condition, and looks well read. Just getting into it- now at chapter 3, but few “bells” ringing already and hoping this will give md insight into how to deal with some of the more awkward people in my life. Also came with a free, short “audible” freebie of the book. Would have been great if a free kindle version, as Amazon does, with a lot of its paper based books now, but it didn’t.The Dummies books are so easy to read and you can skip bits/chapters if you want to. The wait for courses or free therapists is so long I thought at £3.29 I couldn’t go wrong. Looking forward to reading the chapters on Standing up to Anxiety and Fear, Overcoming Low Self Edteem by Accepting Yourself, and Taking a Fresh Look at Your Past. Lots to take in, but is in great bite- size chunks

At first glance a lot of the information in this book seems like common sense but, as the authors explain, it is quite rare for us to act in these ways. We tend to act in ways that are harmful to ourselves and our relationships and this book goes some way to showing you how to break out of these past moulds and create new ways of behaving. It follows the basic 'dummies' format, with various icons, cartoons, clear headings and 'part of tens' at the back, so if you know the format you will know what to expect. This book introduces CBT, helps you spot errors in your thinking, helps you define problems and goals, focuses on a few specific problems (like OCD, anger and low self esteem), helps you move on from past events and overcome obstacles, looks at ways to maintain your progress and to find a CBT professional, as well as way more besides. This also has an appendix with useful contacts and another of various CBT forms that you can use. Overall this is very comprehensive and I think that if you take the time to utilise the information explained to you and stick with it, this should offer up some real results. It is worth noting that even if you have no major issues that seem to be crippling your actions or outlook, this book still has much to offer to help you live more meaningfully and make small changes to get that little bit more out of life. A clear, informative read.Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.

This is a very down to earth practical workbook that partly duplicates its sister publication CBT Workbook for Dummies. The latter being a more practical based book whilst this one focusses more on the theoretical. I found the need for both and I am glad I did. I bought them because my CBT practitioner suggested it would help me rethink old feelings into new feelings linked to more appropriate thoughts. It has and is work ongoing. The layout and font is easy to read and follow. I would strongly recommend both of these books as esential to anyone undertaking this type of coaching. Neither is expensive given the almost immediate results when applying some of the techniques described. To balance my view it would be fair to say that there are one or maybe two tables for copying that are a little bit small but this is not a problem I lost much sleep over!.

Bought for wife when counselling training .... Well ex wife .... She loves it .... I am a fan of The for Dummies books ... Great for everyone 👍 highly recommend 👍 Mr G - Worc

I didn't expect much from this book. I've read the works of Dr David Burns, and loved his books. But this CBT for Dummies is very, very good, I must say. It's written in a simple style, and the format makes it very readable. I haven't read all the book yet, but feel compelled to share my views. I've been trying to apply some of the things in there, and it's changing my outlook on things. Rome wasn't built in a day, but I can see myself dipping in-and-out of this for years to come.