Dr. Darlene Treese
PO Box 547
Windermere, FL 34786
Cell/Text:
(480) 296-3358


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Phone: 407-278-1598 Fax:407-203-0803

Dr. Dar's Weekly News You Can Use:


Series: Distorted Thinking - Introduction

Most of human emotional suffering is unnecessary. It comes from errant conclusions drawn from faulty logic about the world. It's your personal, individual interpretations, what you say to yourself about your experiences and your worth and value and talents that create your anxiety, anger and depression. If you decide that someone's look at you shows rejection (when the truth is that the poor person may have the flu), you are creating your own stormy climate and will ride the rough seas.

Albert Ellis, David Burns and Aaron Beck have contributed most to the theories that describe distorted thinking and how it affects you. Albert Ellis summarized it this way:

  • Facts and events: A store clerk rings up the wrong price on merchandise and a customer loudly complains to the manager
  • Clerk's self talk: "This is really bad. I may be reprimanded or put on suspension or even fired. I'm going to lose my job and then I won't be able to pay the rent and I will be homeless. I really screwed up. That customer is a jerk and so is my boss. They hate me here."
  • Emotions: Anger and Anxiety

Notice that the event did not cause the emotions. It was the self talk based on the clerk's perceptions of being in danger that anger and anxiety were generated. If later the clerk decided that everyone makes mistakes and no harm will come of it, her emotional responses will be entirely different. By learning about the most common types of distorted thinking that leads to negative self-talk, you will be able to accurately identify what is causing unnecessary pain and turmoil in your life - and will be shown how to correct it. YEAH!

Here's to you and your power to change your life by changing your thoughts!

Next Week: Distorted Thinking Filtering