This is the third in our podcasts series on the best techniques to crush each of the ten cognitive distortions from my book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. Today, we focus on Overgeneralization. There are two common forms of Overgeneralization:

1. You generalize from some specific flaw or failure to your “Self.” So, instead of telling yourself that you failed at this or that, you tell yourself that you are “a failure” or “a loser.”
2. You generalize from right now to the future, using words like “always” or “never.” For example, you may tell yourself, “Trisha (or Jack) rejected me. This always happens! I must be unlovable. I’ll be alone forever.”

Overgeneralization is also one of the most common cognitive distortions, and it causes depression as well as anxiety. I believe it is impossible to feel depressed or hopeless without Overgeneralization. The antidote to Overgeneralization is called “Let’s Be Specific.” Instead of thinking of your self as a “bad mother” or “bad father,” you can focus on the specific thing you did that regret, like shouting at your kids when you were upset. Then you can think of a specific plan to correct this problem, like talking things over with your kids and letting them know that you love them and feel badly that you snapped at them. David and Rhonda also talk about the idea that abstract concepts like “worthless” or “bad” or “worthwhile” or “good” human beings are meaningless. Good and bad thoughts, feelings and behaviors certainly exist, but there is no way to measure or judge the value of a human being. In the next podcast in this series, David and Rhonda will discuss the TEAM-CBT techniques that can especially helpful for the next distortion, Mental Filter and Discounting the Positive. David D. Burns, MD / Rhonda Barovsky, PsyD You can reach Dr. Burns at david@feelinggood.com. Dr. Rhonda Barovsky practices in Walnut Creek, California, and specializes in TEAM-CBT for depression, anxiety, and relationship problems. She can be reached at rbarovsky@aol.com. Today’s featured photo is courtesy of Nancy Mueller–www.nancymuellerphotography.com. If you like our jingle music and would like to support the composer Brett Van Donsel, you may download it here.

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This is the cover of my new book, Feeling Great. It will be released in September of 2020, but you will soon be able to pre-order it on Amazon, possibly by the time you read this! 

Need Training or CE Credits?

Check Out these Awesome Upcoming Workshops!

The Cognitive Distortion Starter Kit: How to Crush Negative Thoughts

With Drs. David Burns and Jill Levitt

May 17, 2020 | 7 CE hours. $135 (online only)

TEAM-CBT includes more than 100 powerful techniques to change the distorted thoughts that trigger negative emotions. But what techniques should I select for my patient who feels depressed, anxious, or angry? As you know, in my book, Feeling Good, I listed the ten most common cognitive distortions, like All-or-Nothing Thinking, Should Statements, Emotional Reasoning, and more, and you probably use that list all the time in your clinical work. But do you know which techniques work the best for each distortion? Come to this workshop and find out! You’ll learn with tons of cool techniques you can use every day to boost your clinical effectiveness. This workshop will be taught entirely live-streamed so you can join from anywhere in the world! There will be many expert online helpers to assist and guide you with the small-group exercises online. Our last workshop on resistance in February was our most highly rated ever! We hope to make this a terrific and fun learning experience for you, too!

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2-Day Clinical Master Class

Rapid Recovery from Anxiety Disorders– GAD, Phobias, Panic Attacks, Social Anxiety, OCD, PTSD and Health Anxiety

by David D. Burns, MD

June 4 – 5, 2020, Seattle, Washington

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The All-New Annual South San Francisco Intensive!

Enhanced Empathy Training

August 10 – 13, 2020

It’s Going to Be Awesome!

Videos, Live Demonstrations

Small Group Practice with

Personal Feedback and Mentoring,

and Chances for Personal Work and Healing

During this four-day intensive workshop you will learn:

• How to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with challenging, difficult clients.
• How to deal skillfully with people who refuse to open up and talk to you; won’t listen; are relentlessly critical, narcissistic or controlling; always have to be right; use, abuse, or exploit you; complain endlessly; are hostile, threatening or violent; as well as clients who are overwhelmed, hopeless and suicidal.
• How to develop more loving relationships with the people you care about—as well as the ones you don’t.
• Powerful new techniques to help clients who are struggling with conflicts with loved ones, friends, or colleagues.
• How to deal with the inner chatter and powerful feelings that make it so difficult to deal with conflict when you feel angry or hurt.
• How to identify and modify the self-defeating beliefs that make us vulnerable to conflicts with others.
• How to identify and melt away the intense outcome and process resistance that make the treatment of relationship problems so challenging.

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Watch for the Awesome

December Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference Anaheim, December 9 – 13, 2020

Sponsored by the Erikson Institute

It is always spectacular and I’ll be presenting, too!

Details TBA