Core beliefs are the underlying beliefs that we have about the self, others, and the world, as well as the future. They arise as a result of the experiences we’ve been through, including trauma. Forms that core beliefs take They are held as absolutes, and tend to be expressed using words like “always” or “never”. They …
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week’s term is assertiveness. Wikipedia explains that assertiveness can be seen as falling in between passive communication styles and aggressive styles. Assertiveness training is a type of behavioural therapy developed in the 1960s that includes increasing awareness of one’s own …
Sleep—it’s so important to have, yet sometimes so hard to get. Mental illness can make getting a good night’s sleep particularly difficult. Whether it’s depression, where you’re exhausted but can’t sleep, or mania, where you have too much energy to feel the need for sleep, insomnia is something that spans across diagnoses. A key non-medication …
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) Read More »
Some studies have shown that the quality of the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist is a stronger predictor of therapeutic outcomes than the type of therapy used. However, it seems logical that the type of therapy should at least to some extent match up with how you tend to conceptualize the problems you’re experiencing. …
Psychotherapy Alphabet Soup: CBT, DBT, ACT, and More Read More »
There are a lot of excellent mental health resources out there, and quite a few of them are actually free. Here are some of the good mental health workbooks and worksheets that I’ve come across, most of which are available as printable PDFs. They’re based on therapeutic approaches that have proven to be effective. This …
I’m sure many of you are already familiar with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), but I thought it was still worth taking a look at cognitive distortions, a key ingredient in the CBT soup. Cognitive distortions are common unrealistic patterns of thinking. They’re not delusional, but at the same time, they don’t accurately reflect reality, and …
