In his groundbreaking book, Feeling Good, Dr. David Burns explains that thoughts (or cognitions) create feelings, and negative feelings almost always contain gross distortions.
Suppose you’re feeling anxious, for instance. In that case, it’s possible to identify the thought that occurred prior (“I’m going to make a mistake”) as well as the corresponding distortion (fortune-telling) and change your mood.
In Feeling Great, his follow-up, Dr. Burns expands this idea further. He writes that negative thoughts reveal, not what’s wrong with you, but rather, what’s right with you.
In his words,
One of the most powerful discoveries I’ve made is that your negative feelings always say something really good—even great—about you, and they will nearly always help you in important ways too.
To illustrate, he shares a story of a woman called Karen, a mother who struggled with depression due to an accident that befell her nine-year-old daughter.
The accident wasn’t her fault, but through working with Dr. Burns, she realized that she didn’t want to change because her guilt revealed her sense of responsibility as a parent.
Once we become aware of the advantages and even the benefits of a negative thought or emotion—that is, reframe them—we can rid ourselves of resistance to change and make forward progress.
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