Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

Think Good, Feel Good

The title of my review is actually a summary of how this book plans to make you feel better.

The book is authored by a someone who has had a lot of experience using cognitive therapy techniques to try and improve people's depression. Cognitive therapy's premise is that your thinking (messages that you are giving yourself all day long) directly inflences your moods and how you feel. Therefore, if you are thinking negatively, you're going to feel that way. Likewise, if you think positive and optimistically, well, you're going to feel good!

And that's what the book is about- getting you to get rid of negative thoughts and replacing them with good ones. Does it work? Well, the book has been around since 1980, and there's actually been some good solid research that has actually taken the book, given it to depressed patients.....and they've improved!

With its easy writing style and research-backed techniques, Feeling Good The New Mood Therapy is definitely worth the read- just know you've got over 500+ pages ahead of you. If this seems too daunting, or this approach doesn't appeal to you, try something like "Exercise Beats Depression"- which has been shown to be just as effective as cognitive therapy or drugs in controlled trials. Good luck!

10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

this is the best self help book i have ever read

an amazing book that can transform your life and open your eyes to see that cognitive therapy is the best therapy out there. it teaches that you can change the way you think and become less negative and less depressed once you understand why you think the way you do. recommended to me by a psychotherapist, i am more than thankful for it. just after reading the introduction i had a lot of hope, which many depressed people don't usually have. no matter how bad your depression, anxiety, mood swings, or negativity are please do yourself a favor and pick up this book, for you or a suffering loved one.

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Simply 'reading' the book isn't enough.

15 years ago I read the original version of this book, and followed through with the recommended exercises. This was by far the BEST treatment I could have asked for. I read many others before I found this book. I was able to change my destructive thoughts and therefore my mood. I've been in a slump lately and plan to read and DO this book again. Readers, don't expect miracles just by skimming through this book...you've got to jump in with both feet and follow the suggestions.

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

This book is written for those with EXTREME cases of despair

I have not found this book particularly helpful. While I do have some of the symptoms the author writes about, this is written more to encourage those who feel they have absolutely no hope for a 'normal' life. I would imagine, those cases are rare. I know my symptoms, I know I am successful in my career, and have a family. I have a lot going for me. I just tend to get 'sad' and crawl into my own shell. This book is not written for people like me. It's written for people who have blinders on, and think only bad things can possibly happen to them. I was excited to hear about CBT, thinking maybe this is the miracle I've been looking for. Maybe it is. But Dr. Burns does not do a good job explaining it's also for people like me. I am disappointed with this book.

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Very reader friendly, tremendously useful

This is a classic book, useful for mental health professionals. or any consumer. It brings together everything in the cognitive therapy field in easy to read, reproducible format including lots of self-tests and summaries of various meds used for depression and anxiety disorders. I have been a therapist for 40 years and have not seen anything as useful as this book, 1st published about 25 years ago.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Dr.Burns, you saved my life

About 15 years ago, I read this book and realized I have been depressed most of my life. Being raised in a abused alcholic home, I didn't realize the impact this had in my life. After reading this book, I felt like a million, before I knew it I was my best friend, where I was my worst enemy. Instead of Self Hate, I found Self Love. When I found myself going back to Self Critism I just applied my SELF TALK,felt better instantly.I sent every oneI knew a copy of this book. I am today finding myself diagnosed once again with Depression, only because I removed this book from my night stand by my bed to a book shelf. Out of sight out of mind. Pulled out my old copy with its torn discolored pages, full of dust and am looking forward to a new copy tomorrow. I will once again carry this book with me everywhere. 'I call it my 2nd bible'I want my life back once again. Thank you Dr. Burns, you saved me thousands in Therapy fees.

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

How to for 'dealing with your feelings'

Many years ago I had a confluence of tragic events in my life and I decided to see a psychologist for a while. One day the psychologist told me that I needed to 'deal with my feelings'. I told him in frustration that I heard that many times before, but that I did not understand what that meant. I asked him what exactly do people do when they 'deal with their feelings'. He was silent for a few moments and then he wrote the name of this book down on a slip of paper. This book will tell you how to 'deal with your feelings'. These techniques will not give you instant results, but they work if they are applied consistently.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Practical, powerful, and easy to read.

This book shows how to change the way you think to change the way you feel. But it's not about positive thinking. It's about thinking more realistically. The list of ten 'cognitive distortions' is worth the price of the book. Years ago, I memorized that list and have been using it ever since to catch myself thinking unreasonably. My tendency to make those cognitive mistakes has improved greatly, and I feel unnecessary negative emotions much less often. As the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, I know something about the field, and Burn's book has some of the most practical suggestions you'll find in any self-help book.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Great Book - Has Changed My Life

If you are looking for a book that will make you look at life with a more positive outlook, then you should consider this book. The good thing is that you can peek inside before you purchase it. I suffered from moderate depression when I found myself searching for anything to bring me out of it. This book was designed to help anyone suffering from mild to severe depression, so you can skip the sections that don't apply to you. I didn't know how distorted my thinking had become until I started reading it. I read it, and did some of the exercises, and I just feel so much better about myself, about those around me, about everything really. You have to put work into this, doing some of the exercises is a must to change your thought processes, but it is well worth the effort.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Timeless, brilliant, but a lot to read for a depression sufferer

This is a great book once you are on the road to recovery, and a valuable aid for all of us wanting to live better and be happier. But, at 736 pages, it is a bit insurmountable. One book I did enjoy recently that touched on some of the same concepts is Laughing Again by Roxanne Renee. This book is quite manageable, and also covers an arsenal of techniques to help our minds heal. I recommend them both!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book for all to read

This book was one of my favorite books I have read. It is great for those who need self help, great for professionals, and it is the perfect book to read while going to school and learning to be therapist or counselor.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Excellent book on depression to understand your self and get better

The book provides effective methods to understand yourself and the way you feel which is critical to understand the way you react and provides effective mechanisms to change your behavior in a positive way. The book was originally published many years ago but the concepts are still valid today.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

How to say nothing in 150,000 words.

This book could easily be reduced to a pamphlet. The ideas are both logical and correct, but too obvious to help anyone sufferring from both depression and intelligence.

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

One of the good ones...

but sometimes you don't feel good enough to go through with the exercises. I recommend going to Undoing Depression when that happens...or even as a complement to Burns.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

free!

I have been treated three times over a long life for depression, (never hospitalized). I read this book three years ago, and they have been the most fulfilling three years of my life. I still have bad days from time to time, but now I can confidently tell myself that a bad day does not mean a bad life, or an endless supply of more bad days. This book gave me perspective.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book helped me more than any other.

I have bought this book for people that I knew needed it. Reading and applying the principle in this book pulled me out of the depths of a 5 year period of depression. I review this book from time to time to stay on track.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Read Undoing Depression for Balance

This is the best title for cognitive therapy. But CT doesn't work for every episode...and for some people it doesn't help at all. And when it isn't right, the person feels like more of a failure without realizing that this is only one of several good models to try.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book saved my life!!!!!

I think God guided me to this wonderful book. It saved my life. I now know what it's like to live a normal and happy life. My antidepressents couldn't even pull me through the anquish. This book really hits home!!!!!!!! Thank you David D. Burns for writing it!! Your a life saver!!!!!!!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book helped me, it could help you...

Although I am not a depressed person, I tend to sink into crepuscular and gloomy funks from time to time. I am human after all, but this book really helped me get through these dark times without medication...which was what I was looking for. This book seriously is so helpful getting you out of the dark and sad stages of life. It helped me get through arguments, criticisms, and built my self esteem. This is clearly the best self help book I have ever encountered in my opinion and I highly recommend it to anyone who is willing to live their best life and be their best self even in the worst of times. Truly amazing and well put together, give it a read sometime, it helped me a ton and it could help you as well.

Where is the workbook ?

I would love to get my hands on the workbook for Feeling Good, By Dr Burns. My therapist recommends it. Anyone?

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.