CHANGE YOUR THINKING

3rd Edition

by SARAH EDELMAN

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New softcover book, 420 pages. Third Edition, published 2013 by ABC Books

Positive and practical ways to overcome stress, negative emotions and self-defeating behaviour using CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy . Make a difference to your life - beginning today!

All of us experience complicated thoughts and feelings as we negotiate the day, and these feelings can be difficult to manage. Sometimes we are aware that the way we think contributes to our difficulties, but don't know what to do about it.

Change Your Thinking is the bestselling practical and reassuring guide to overcoming self-defeating thoughts and behaviour. It demonstrates how to dispute that nagging voice in your head and deal more rationally with feelings of anger, depression, frustration and anxiety. It explains how it is within our ability to interrupt and challenge these patterns and change habitual responses. Learning to recognise when negative perceptions contribute to stressful situations and how to dispute these thoughts can lead to much greater personal contentment and a sense of control. It also contains plenty of sensible suggestions for more effective comminucation and for finding happiness - something that is within everyone's grasp.

Change Your Thinking is soundly based on the principles of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), the standard psychological technique used by therapists. The aim of CBT is to develop realistic thought patterns to help us respond better to upsetting emotions. It brings these principles within the grasp of the non-specialist and shows how to apply them to deal with such difficult emotions as anger, depression, anxiety and guilt. Sarah Edelman explains the principles of CBT in a straightforward and compasionate way that will help you take control and find more positive ways of dealing with things.

A bit more about CBT

Cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT or cognitive behavior therapy ) is a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to influence problematic and dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure. CBT can be seen as an umbrella term for therapies that share a theoretical basis in behavioristic learning theory and cognitive psychology, and that use methods of change derived from these theories.

CBT was primarily developed through a merging of behavior therapy with cognitive therapy. While rooted in rather different theories, these two traditions found common ground in focusing on the "here and now" and symptom removal. Many CBT treatment programs for specific disorders have been developed and evaluated for efficacy and effectiveness; the health-care trend of evidence-based treatment, where specific treatments for specific symptom-based diagnoses are recommended, has favoured CBT over other approaches such as psychodynamic treatments.

CBT treatments have received empirical support for efficient treatment of a variety of clinical and non-clinical problems, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders, and psychotic disorders. It is often brief and time-limited. It is used in individual therapy as well as group settings, and the techniques are also commonly adapted for self-help applications. Some CBT therapies are more oriented towards predominately cognitive interventions while some are more behaviorally oriented. In cognitive oriented therapies, the objective is typically to identify and monitor thoughts, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors that are related and accompanied to debilitating negative emotions and to identify those which are dysfunctional, inaccurate, or simply unhelpful. This is done in an effort to replace or transcend them with more realistic and useful ones.

About the author

Dr Sarah Edelman is a university lecturer, trainer and psychologist in private practice. Originally a high school teacher, Sarah now teaches people to use CBT as a self-help tool at the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Sydney, and conducts workshops for mental health practitioners, teachers and employers in industry. Her areas of expertise include depression, anxiety, anger, self-esteem, stress, relationships, communication, cognitive behaviour therapy, CBT, psychology, psychotherapy and counselling. Sarah worked for many years as a research psychologist at the University of Technology, Sydney. Sarah is a frequent guest on ABC Radio, and has contributed articles on CBT and popular psychology topics in professional and mainstream journals.

She has also produced a series of relaxation and meditation CDs for managing anxiety. Please visit The House of Oojah for more information about Sarah's CDs - click here

Change Your Thinking Third Edition by Sarah Edelman