{"id":84879,"date":"2020-09-29T15:01:12","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T23:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=84879"},"modified":"2020-10-12T10:44:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T18:44:58","slug":"from-feeling-good-to-feeling-great","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/from-feeling-good-to-feeling-great\/","title":{"rendered":"From Feeling Good to Feeling Great"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You may be aware that my books, Feeling Good<\/em> and the Feeling Good Handbook,<\/em> have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, and are still popular, even though Feeling Good<\/em> was published 40 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason for the books enduring popularity is groundbreaking research conducted by Dr. Forrest Scogin and his colleagues at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. They reported that if you simply give people seeking treat for moderate to severe depression a copy of Feeling Good<\/em>, more than 50% will improve so much within four weeks that they no longer want or need treatment. What is crucial is that these patients received no psychotherapy or antidepressants during those four weeks. Three-year follow-up studies indicated that they did not relapse but actually continue to improve following their initial \u201cbibliotherapy\u201d with Feeling Good<\/em>!<\/a> That\u2019s why Feeling Good<\/em> is still the top-rated and best-selling book on depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why have I now written the first true sequel to Feeling Good<\/em>? Feeling Good<\/em> was all about cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), which was a breakthrough that changed the history of psychiatry and psychology. When I wrote Feeling Good<\/em>, there were only a handful of cognitive therapists in the world, and we were considered quacks. Since the publication of Feeling Good<\/em>, CBT has become the most popular and most extensively researched form of psychotherapy in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while CBT was terrific, it was not perfect. In fact, outcome studies with all current treatments for depression reveal that fewer than half of the patients even experience a 50% decrease in depression after months of treatment. And a 50% improvement isn\u2019t even very good. Patients don\u2019t want to feel somewhat <\/em>less depressed, they want a total elimination of their symptoms and a huge boost in feeling of happiness and joy as well. And many\u2014arguably most–simply aren\u2019t getting it from any of the current treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My clinical experience (more than 40,000 therapy sessions with depressed and anxious patients) and published research for the past four decades on how therapy actually works have provided important clues as to why some patients improve, while others do not. The answer seems to involve an important but somewhat neglected dimension that Freud called therapeutic \u201cresistance.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resistance means that most of us have mixed feelings when it comes to change. On the one hand, we may desperately want to change, but seem to resist change. The Jesuit mystic, Anthony DeMello, put it this way: \u201cWe yearn for change but cling to the familiar.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps you\u2019ve experienced this yourself! We say that we\u2019re going to stop procrastinating, or really want to lose weight, or that we should stop beating up on ourselves with self-critical thoughts, but it never seems to happen.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, here here\u2019s some terrific news. Over the past fifteen years, in my work with my weekly psychotherapy training group at Stanford, I believe I\u2019ve finally discovered the cause of \u201cresistance,\u201d a puzzle that Freud tried, but failed, to solve. And you want to know something else that\u2019s totally awesome? Your symptoms of depression and anxiety, and your resistance to change, are not the result of what\u2019s wrong<\/em> with you, but what\u2019s right<\/em> you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depression and anxiety are not, in fact, \u201cmental disorders\u201d that result from a \u201cchemical imbalance in your brain,\u201d but are the expression of what\u2019s most beautiful and awesome about you and your core values. And the moment you suddenly \u201csee this,\u201d your resistance will suddenly disappear, and recovery will be just a stone\u2019s throw away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can learn all about these powerful techniques in my new book, Feeling Great<\/a>!<\/em> (September 2020) It\u2019s not just for therapists, but for anyone who wants a little mental tune-up so you can overcome depression and anxiety and feel great! And that, I\u2019m convinced, is the \u201ccure\u201d that almost all of us are looking for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Burns, MD<\/p>\n\n\n\n


DAVID D. BURNS, MD,\u00a0<\/strong>is an Adjunct Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. More than 50,000 mental health professionals have attended his workshops throughout the United States and Canada. His weekly\u00a0Feeling Good Podcasts\u00a0(approaching three million downloads) provide therapists and the general public alike with tips to overcome depression, anxiety, relationship conflicts, and habits and addiction. Dr. Burns lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn more, visit\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>www.FeelingGreattheBook.co<\/em>m<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may be aware that my books, Feeling Good and the Feeling Good Handbook, have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, and are still popular, even though Feeling Good was published 40 years ago.  One reason for the books … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19778,"featured_media":84880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[12,32,21,6],"tags":[7817,7818,51,66,4635],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Feeling Good to Feeling Great<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/from-feeling-good-to-feeling-great\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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