Tag: depression

I have added a new question to the FAQs page of my site. I’ll also post it here for vision:

I tried CBT before and it felt like my therapist was gaslighting me. How is CBT different from just telling someone to think positively?

It is true that thinking positively is one skill or component of CBT; however, the effectiveness of CBT also depends on the skill of the therapist and the relationship between yourself (client) and the therapist. A skilled CBT therapist can help you to challenge negative thinking without directly confronting the negative thoughts you experience and without necessarily debating yourself in a negative thinking spiral or rumination. Instead, your therapist can help you trace the origin of your negative thinking, connect it to your everyday thoughts, and help you to externalise and question your thinking patterns through constructive dialogue and everyday experiments designed to test your negative thinking.