Dryden_ 3264/CRC 1/3/02 11:08 AM Page i Cognitive Behaviour Therapy An A–Z of Persuasive Arguments Dryden_ 3264/CRC 1/3/02 11:08 AM Page ii Dryden_ 3264/CRC 1/3/02 11:32 AM Page iii Cognitive Behaviour Therapy An A–Z of Persuasive Arguments M N ICHAEL EENAN Centre for Stress Management, London and W D INDY RYDEN Goldsmiths College, University of London W W H U R R P U B L I S H E R S L O N D O N A N D P H I L A D E L P H I A Dryden_ 3264/CRC 1/3/02 11:08 AM Page iv © Whurr Publishers 2002 First published 2002 by Whurr Publishers Ltd 19b Compton Terrace, London N1 2UN, England and 325 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia PA 19106, USA All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo­ copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permis­ sion of Whurr Publishers Limited. This publication is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the Publisher’s prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon any subsequent purchaser. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 86156 326 4 Printed and bound in the UK by Athenaeum Press Limited, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear. Dryden_ 3264/CRC 1/3/02 11:08 AM Page v Contents Preface vii A–Z Persuasive Arguments 1–161 References 163 v Dryden_ 3264/CRC 1/3/02 11:08 AM Page vi Dryden_ 3264/CRC 1/3/02 11:08 AM Page vii Preface Helping clients to develop alternative and more constructive viewpoints to tackle their problems lies at the heart of cognitive behav­ iour therapy (CBT). This development is facilitated by the quality of the arguments – not to be confused with arguing – you present to your clients. Students as well as experienced practitioners frequently complain to us that they are ‘stuck’ when it comes to answering some clients’ self-defeating thoughts and beliefs; they lack or cannot think of good and persuasive arguments to put forward at the time (one reason for this may be because they believe the same ideas as their clients). Echoing Hauck (1980a), we would suggest that your strength as a cogni­ tive behavioural therapist is, in part, measured by your ability to summon up rational arguments to challenge clients’ irrational arguments. The purpose of this book is to provide you with some ideas and arguments that you can present and build on in your discussions with your clients. But just presenting ideas plucked from this book without further elaboration of them is hardly likely to promote client change. Therefore, this book represents an addition to your ‘argumentarium’ in the same way that new techniques are added to your armamentarium. Cross-references in the text are shown in small capitals. vii Dryden_ 3264/CRC 1/3/02 11:08 AM Page viii Dryden_ 3264/CRC 1/3/02 11:08 AM Page 1 A absolutist thinking Absolutist thinkers view events in rigid, dogmatic and unqualified terms (e.g. ‘I must get others at the meeting to agree with my point of view’) and emotional disturbance is likely to occur when other people do not see things their way (e.g. the person feels angry when the meeting disagrees with his viewpoint) along with the unpleasant realization of how limited their power and control actually is. Absolutist thinking is extreme thinking (e.g. ‘Either you love me or you hate me’; ‘If I’m not a success, then I’m a failure’) as the person omits complexity from his worldview and refuses to acknowledge that there is a range of viewpoints and options to consider within these extreme positions. Therefore, an absolutist thinker is unable to compromise or tolerate differences and is convinced of the correctness of his opinions. Flexible thinkers, on the other hand, are less likely to trigger emotional disturbance as they do not have a preconceived view of how things must turn out or how others must behave; therefore, they have developed contingency plans to meet changing situations and can adapt to unanticipated outcomes. Flexible thinking is based on wishes, wants, preferences (e.g. ‘I would very much prefer others at the meeting to agree with my viewpoint but there is no reason why they must agree with it’) and is more likely to promote successful problem-solving and emotional stability than absolutist thinking. (In a play on Lord Acton’s famous dictum that absolute power corrupts absolutely, we might say that absolutist thinking disturbs ‘absolutely’, e.g. ‘I was absolutely furious with him’, ‘I’m absolutely appalled by your indifference towards me’). acceptance Some clients refuse to accept that they have a problem because to do so would mean surrendering to it (e.g. ‘The depression has won’). 1