Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think

I really like the way Greenberger and Padesky put in little hint questions in small type at the bottom of the columns, to remind you what you're supposed to be doing without having to go back and read the text. And the book is full of terrific hint boxes which give you questions to ask yourself if you're having trouble understanding the exercises. I have not seen this anywhere else.

Defects? 1) This book doesn't contain the richness of material of the Burns or other CBT workbooks. The chapters on specific conditions at the end are pretty paltry. It's really just a very large book on how to do a thought record. 2) The authors limit evaluating automatic thoughts to "evidence for", "evidence against", and a "reasonable alternative". This rigid empirical model is not suited to everyone or every situation. Surprisingly, there is no discussion of or columns for "cognitive distortions" (Burns) or "disputes" (Ellis). This is a major defect, but one can work around it by expanding what is allowed in the "evidence against" columns.

Overall though, an excellent book for use in clinical settings with general mental health patients. I find myself pulling it out much more often than my other CBT books sitting next to it on my shelf. Once clients get the hang of cognitive therapy, I introduce more sophisticated material; but I haven't found a better starting point.


Thinking clearly, feeling better -- it works!   July 17, 1999
117 out of 124 found this review helpful

Depression descends like a veil separating the person from the processes of life and creating a dark closet where videotapes of pain experienced and hope lost play continuously. Turning off the mind videos, transitioning from sad to ok, sleeping and eating on a regular schedule, moving from self-criticism to self-acceptance can be difficult on the best of days. Mind Over Mood provides insightful narratives relating the experiences of others to the experiences I was feeling - I could begin to see the authors' cast of characters in my own mirror and begin healing with them. But more than that, Mind Over Mood contributes hands on tools that have started a process of discovery about how I think, what I'm feeling, how I react and how to chart a balanced life course.

Drs. Greenberger and Padesky are acclaimed in the book's foreword by Aaron T. Beck, the pioneer of cognitive therapy, for their "vision and innovation" as well as their abilities to teach what they practice. It is probable, however, that their contributions to the lives of their readers will be documented as their greatest success. Acknowledging that "emotions generally enrich our lives, (but) too much emotion can be disruptive", the authors provide a framework to sort automatic thoughts and core beliefs about ourselves, others and the world. Mind Over Mood's worksheets prompt insights in the first chapter at the first reading and guide the reader to developing introspective and comprehensive perspectives about seemingly modest predicaments as well as significant events. Their approach is empathetic and their tools are practical as they help all of us enhance our mental flexibility.

As parents struggle to develop well-rounded children, as teachers challenge students to not only think creatively but to think in balanced ways, as managers try to impart emotional intelligence to create agile workers, Mind Over Mood offers an approach appropriate for multiple forums and principles central to improving the quality of all lives. No book is a substitute for the guidance of a qualified and understanding therapist in crisis situations. However, Mind Over Mood clearly provides tools to identify and organize thoughts and moods to feel better and to set action plans that challenge our assumptions, reduce distorted thinking, and establish a solid platform for personal growth and improved relationships. In more basic terms, Mind Over Mood continues to work for me - I carry the concepts with me everyday. I would wish the same comfort for you and your family.


powerful, easy tools conquer depression/anxiety   October 14, 2004
L. Rephann (Brooklyn, New York United States)
69 out of 71 found this review helpful

After years in therapy and various methods (Freudian, Jungian, etc.), it was finally Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that helped me stop the negative, worrying (a facet of anxiety) voices that blared incessantly in my mind.

I can not recommend this book enough. Its simple exercises will have you seeing the fallacy of your thoughts, which are what determine your mood. The book (and CBT's) superbly simplistic idea is that your THOUGHTS are what control your MOODS. Control your thoughts, and you control your moods. But before we can do this, we have to slow down enough to take the time to see where our thoughts are coming from. This book and its exercises help us find where we are simply WRONG in the thoughts we have about ourselves which lead to depressed or anxious mood.

These exercises will help you determine your "hot thoughts," (automatic thoughts you hold about yourself that are linked to depressed/anxious mood), will help you examine evidence for and against your thoughts, and then help you use this evidence to create NEW THOUGHTS which ought to in turn help you create NEW MOODS.

These techniques are amazingly simple but also incredibly powerful. If you feel stuck in "talk therapy" analysis and can not seem to change the way you think about yourself, this book is for you! However, you should also seek a trained COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPIST to teach you the techniques to literally CHANGE your thought process.

Anxiety and depression are more and more common in our society, and much of what causes these mood disturbances is our incorrect/unfounded thoughts about ourselves. Once we learn to manage our thoughts, we learn to change our mood. This book and what it teaches is life-changing.


A "Mixed Bag"   September 27, 2005
Harry
62 out of 69 found this review helpful

While I found this book helpful in understanding more about depression and anxiety, the "self-analysis" techniques it recommends are much too complicated. It attempts to classify and quantify intangibles such as moods and feelings to an impossible degree. For example, it divides moods into 25+ categories such as mad, happy, cheerful, angry, disgusted, panicky, etc. The problem here is defining the exact nature of a mood. Does "mad" or "disgusted" mean the same thing to everyone? Where does "mad" end and "angry" start? Can we really place a mood into a specific "box" that has precisely defined boundaries? Next, it attempts to rate the degree of each of these moods into a numerical scale ranging from 0 to 100. In other words, how much is "mad" is in our "mad" box"? While this approach to the problem may give it the appearance of "science", it is more akin to becoming excruciatingly exact about gross approximations.
The next question is whether the person afflicted with either depression or anxiety can actually view his/her situation impartially from the outside looking in? Highly doubtful! Most likely, the sufferer is "standing too close to the trees to see the forest". Finally, the sheer volume of record keeping suggested by the author is overwhelming. This may work for some, but in my case it simply aggravates my frustration which in turn elevates my anxiety level.
While some of these techniques may prove helpful to professionals and possibly to certain individual cases, they have not been helpful to me. Sorry, but the best I can do is give it the benefit of the doubt with a mid-range rating.



Do the exercises if you want REAL INNER PEACE   September 25, 2005
G-Man (Pennsylvania)
50 out of 51 found this review helpful

Hey guys,

I've NEVER EVER written a review in my life for a book or anything before. I wasn't about to start but after seeing that 1 star from that "Helen" fellow; I had to jump in. It's people like that who expect a magic pill type "Silver Bullet" INSTANT CURE that give everyone else false hopes.

Therapy is hard. Your negative and distorted thoughts cause your suffering. To be "CURED" you have to learn to talk back to your negative thoughts. Talking back to your negative thoughts is hard and painful at times.

At some point, you are going to have to make peace with all the anger, hostility, anxiety, resentment, worthlessness, guilt, shame, hopelessness by bringing those POWERFUL emotions into your conscious awareness. If it was easy, everyone would be able to do it on their own and Therapists would be out of work.

Here's what's worked for me. I used this "WORK"book in conjunction with the the following
1. 10 days to self-esteem by David Burns
2. The feeling good handbook by David Burns

Using those 3 books for about 4 months on my own I would say, I saw about a 40% imporvement. When I got all I could out of these books on my own, I sought the help of a competent therapist.

[...]

If you live far away, you may have to travel a little bit. I live about 2 hours from philly and so I have to put aside 5 to 6 hours every week. 5 hours travel time and 1 hour for the therapy session. Your situation may be better/worse than mine but if I can do it, so can you. YOU HAVE OPTIONS !!!

BUT, EVERYTHING HAS A PRICE. If you do the exercies, you will see results. I GUARANTEE YOU. Get this book first and do the exercies. Then get the other two books that I mentioned above. After you get everything out of them that you can, move on to the next level. One of the biggest things that therapists struggle with is patients with conflicting drives. On one level, they want to change but on another level they don't.

If you do the exercises in these books, and if you still need additional help/coaching; when you do go to see a therapist, you will progress at a ridiculous speed (6 months max) simply because you'll already understand the basics and that extra nudge from a caring and competent professional will put you over the top. There won't be anything slowing you down.

Hope this helps and above all, KEEP YOUR EXPECTATIONS REALISTIC.