All Things CBT

Paradoxical Invitations: To Change Or Not To Change

We can invite another person to change in two ways. One is to offer a straightforward invitation. “You are currently X, might you prefer Y?” We can, for instance, invite a patient, friend or family member out of emotional suffering or self-defeating behavior and into a new way of being, feeling or doing. A second

Pure Poetry Of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Poets and cognitive-behavioral therapists are fellow travelers, both very much in the business of words. The American poet Wallace Stevens is an especially close fellow traveler. His poems work the same territory that CBT works: the interface between reality and what we tell ourselves about reality. In this post I share one of his poems,

The Yoga Vaccine: A CBT Response To COVID-19

At least 14 million people have now contracted COVID-19 and 600,000 of them have died. This combination of physical, emotional, social and financial challenges has never been faced by anyone alive. And each person living today is now facing them. Ongoing Traumatic Stress Disorder has been proposed as a description of COVID’s extreme threats to

Calling “Bullshit!” Replying To Terminal Uniqueness

Our patients, friends or family members may sometimes lie to themselves about their destructive or dangerous behaviors. For instance, while drinking heavily, they might say “I don’t have a drinking problem! Other people who pick up DUI’s or spend the night in detox are alcoholics, not me…” It can be challenging to find a loving,

How To Do Six Months Of Psychotherapy In One Week

Have you heard of Therapy Intensives? My colleagues and I think they represent one of the most exciting therapy formats offered today. In this video my colleague Matthew May MD and I discuss our experience delivering, between us, close to 80 such intensives. Outcomes of these intensives have been overwhelmingly positive. And intensive patients regularly