Dr. David Burns

But if he then, you know, still decided he wanted to be a lawyer, and I have no doubt he's going to be a lawyer and a kind of a, An arrogant opponent, I'm sure. Wouldn't want to face him in court. But that you might want to do positive reframing, like what do all these negative thoughts and feelings show about you that's positive and awesome? You know, how strong are all your negative feelings?

But if he then, you know, still decided he wanted to be a lawyer, and I have no doubt he's going to be a lawyer and a kind of a, An arrogant opponent, I'm sure. Wouldn't want to face him in court. But that you might want to do positive reframing, like what do all these negative thoughts and feelings show about you that's positive and awesome? You know, how strong are all your negative feelings?

Yeah. and then get into the idea instead of pressing the magic button and making them all disappear as he seems to want, which is not realistic. And maybe these intense feelings show his idealism and his integrity and that he's thoughtful and that he's not just doing what everyone else does. And so maybe that's the kind of guy we need in law school and in the law profession. And

Yeah. and then get into the idea instead of pressing the magic button and making them all disappear as he seems to want, which is not realistic. And maybe these intense feelings show his idealism and his integrity and that he's thoughtful and that he's not just doing what everyone else does. And so maybe that's the kind of guy we need in law school and in the law profession. And

And he can take pride in his anger and his resentment and his seeing all the holes in the system, because heaven knows there are really problems with the legal profession and with the psychiatric profession as well. And to see if he'd want to kind of dial them down, his negative feelings, maybe from a 100 to 30, and maybe 30 would be enough anger to carry around with you.

And he can take pride in his anger and his resentment and his seeing all the holes in the system, because heaven knows there are really problems with the legal profession and with the psychiatric profession as well. And to see if he'd want to kind of dial them down, his negative feelings, maybe from a 100 to 30, and maybe 30 would be enough anger to carry around with you.

And then we could come in with methods to talk back to the negative thoughts, which are primarily should statements. And at that phase of the treatment, I'd see if he'd be willing to understand and accept the idea that actually the boring work will never upset him and has never upset anyone.

And then we could come in with methods to talk back to the negative thoughts, which are primarily should statements. And at that phase of the treatment, I'd see if he'd be willing to understand and accept the idea that actually the boring work will never upset him and has never upset anyone.

His entire problem is in his head caused by the negative voice in his head saying, you shouldn't have to do this. You shouldn't have to do this. You're better than this. The universe should make an exception for you. It should be easy. It should be relevant. It should be better than it is.

His entire problem is in his head caused by the negative voice in his head saying, you shouldn't have to do this. You shouldn't have to do this. You're better than this. The universe should make an exception for you. It should be easy. It should be relevant. It should be better than it is.

And it's that voice that if you're willing to learn to talk back to it, then you can eliminate much, if not all of these negative feelings. Thank you.

And it's that voice that if you're willing to learn to talk back to it, then you can eliminate much, if not all of these negative feelings. Thank you.

Well, yes. Isn't that the same as what we call assessment of resistance and positive reframing and looking at the positive side and the negative side? We could certainly do a paradoxical cost-benefit analysis with an angry person. Say, let's look at all the advantages of your anger and entitlement and statements. And then maybe this isn't something that you'd want to let go of.

Well, yes. Isn't that the same as what we call assessment of resistance and positive reframing and looking at the positive side and the negative side? We could certainly do a paradoxical cost-benefit analysis with an angry person. Say, let's look at all the advantages of your anger and entitlement and statements. And then maybe this isn't something that you'd want to let go of.

That's another way of dealing with the resistance. And the resistance has to be dealt with at the agenda setting level before you go into the methods. But then if he's willing to get rid of the anger...

That's another way of dealing with the resistance. And the resistance has to be dealt with at the agenda setting level before you go into the methods. But then if he's willing to get rid of the anger...

or to reduce it drastically, then you can use externalization of voices, externalization of resistance, you know, identify the distortions, explain the distortions, and all of the regular team CBT methods for crushing negative thoughts. And one last thing is to emphasize the idea when he says, I shouldn't have to do this, he was a therapist, to say, you know the good news? You don't have to.

or to reduce it drastically, then you can use externalization of voices, externalization of resistance, you know, identify the distortions, explain the distortions, and all of the regular team CBT methods for crushing negative thoughts. And one last thing is to emphasize the idea when he says, I shouldn't have to do this, he was a therapist, to say, you know the good news? You don't have to.

Are you saying you'd prefer not to? Mm-hmm. Let's look at all the reasons not to. And you'll see what you would like to do, what choice you would like to make. But yes, Rhonda, I can remember sitting in the Tressiter Student Union up on the second floor somewhere with my anatomy book, looking at some page with all these pieces of some part of the body there labeled.

Are you saying you'd prefer not to? Mm-hmm. Let's look at all the reasons not to. And you'll see what you would like to do, what choice you would like to make. But yes, Rhonda, I can remember sitting in the Tressiter Student Union up on the second floor somewhere with my anatomy book, looking at some page with all these pieces of some part of the body there labeled.