Snippets about: Therapy
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Control What Happens in Consciousness
"Unless one learns to control what happens in consciousness, one is at the mercy of the environment. A person who never gets to be alone, who is not comfortable spending even an hour in solitary reflection, tends to become dependent on the presence of others and feels at a loss when left alone with nothing specific to do. After a while, if one cannot tolerate even a few minutes without some external input, one becomes a slave to the stimuli of the environment. At that point, one is no longer in control of the mind—in fact, by identifying attention with what happens to be in the environment, one assumes the environment's random shape."
Section: 1, Chapter: 8
Book: Flow
Author: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
Reframing Experiences as Challenges
"Reframing does not mean that you deny the inherent risks in a given situation. There was still a risk of failing my exam. But if I chose to focus exclusively on that risk then my stress response might have been much higher and I probably would have found it much more difficult to perform.
Reframing is when you allow yourself to consider reinterpreting the situation in a way that is going to help you move through it. Reframing an experience as a challenge can help us to shift from the flight urge to a somewhat more controlled fight urge. We can move towards something with intention."
Section: 6, Chapter: 25
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
Emotions Are Neither Enemy Nor Friend
"Emotions are neither your enemy nor your friend. They do not occur because your brain has a few cogs misaligned or because you are a sensitive soul, as you were told in the past. Emotions are your brain's attempt to explain and attach meaning to what is going on in your world and your body. Your brain receives information from your physical senses about the outside world and from your bodily functions, like your heart rate, lungs, hormones and immune function. It then uses memory of these sensations that occurred in the past to make some sense of them now."
Section: 3, Chapter: 10
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
Healing the Traumatized Self through Inner Dialogue
Van der Kolk presents the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model as a paradigm for restoring inner harmony after trauma. In IFS, the psyche is viewed as a system of interacting "parts" with different roles and agendas. Trauma disrupts this inner ecology, causing parts to become polarized and disconnected from the core Self.
The goal of IFS therapy is to reestablish the Self's innate leadership and compassion. The Self is the seat of clarity, confidence and curiosity - it is not identified with any one part but can create space for all. From this empowered center, the individual can open a dialogue with the protective parts that carry trauma burdens.
Exiles are the wounded parts that become frozen in time, bearing the pain, terror and shame of trauma. Managers are the preemptively controlling parts that try to safeguard against further wounding. Firefighters are the impulsive, self-destructive parts that try to extinguish overwhelming emotions.
IFS teaches people to embrace all their parts with understanding and empathy. As the Self grows more robust, it can help exiles to heal, managers to relax, and firefighters to discover new roles. By honoring each part's positive intention and releasing it from extremes, the system moves toward balance and wholeness.
Section: 5, Chapter: 17
Book: The Body Keeps the Score
Author: Bessel van der Kolk
Spot And Label Thought Biases
We all experience thought biases, especially when mood is low, that negatively color our perspective. Some common ones include mind reading (assuming you know what others think), overgeneralization (applying one negative event to everything), emotional reasoning (I feel it so it must be true), and all-or-nothing thinking.
Strategies to counter biased thoughts:
- Recognize thoughts are not facts but one possible interpretation
- Get in the habit of noticing and labeling biases when they occur
- Consider alternative perspectives by talking to others
- Practice mindfulness to step back and observe thoughts without judgement
Naming thought distortions helps you gain distance from them so they have less power over your emotions. You can't control what thoughts pop up, but you can change your relationship to them.
Section: 1, Chapter: 2
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
Why It's So Hard to Leave Even the Most Toxic Relationship
Even if you recognize that your relationship has become a source of constant pain, it's never easy to walk away. Two factors make it especially hard:
- Evolutionary wiring. Our attachment system perceives a breakup as a literal threat to survival. The pain and panic can feel overwhelming, even if we know logically the relationship is unhealthy.
- The "rebound effect." After a breakup, memories of the good times come flooding back and overshadow the bad. This selective memory can cause intense craving to reunite. It's not lack of willpower that makes breakups so hard. It's biology. Be patient and compassionate with yourself as you grieve. In time, the intensity will fade.
Section: 3, Chapter: 10
Book: Attached
Author: Amir Levine, Rachel Heller
You Always Have a Choice
"We don't always control what happens to us. But we always control how we interpret what happens to us, as well as how we respond."
Section: 1, Chapter: 5
Book: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Author: Mark Manson
Grief Doesn't Progress In Linear, Predictable Stages
Many people are familiar with the "five stages of grief" model - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. While these experiences are common after loss, modern research suggests grief is not a linear progression with clearly defined phases. It's much messier than that.
- Emotions oscillate, sometimes rapidly. You might feel at peace one moment and in despair the next.
- There is no timeline for grief. Pressuring yourself or others to "move on" by a certain point can compound suffering.
- Grief is individual. Your relationship to the loss is unique, so don't compare your process to others.
- Cultural beliefs shape grief. Rituals and norms around expressing grief vary across societies.
- Grief is a natural response to loss, not a disorder to be cured. Feeling waves of sadness doesn't mean you're broken.
Instead of conforming to a rigid model, be open to your own unfolding experience. Find small ways to honor the loss while continuing to engage with life. With time and self-compassion, grief softens its edges and becomes integrated into a fuller story.
Section: 4, Chapter: 15
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
ACEs: An Unscientific Checklist For Lifelong Damage
The "adverse childhood experiences" or ACEs concept has become ubiquitous in education. It claims that kids exposed to various stressors (abuse, neglect, parental mental illness, etc.) are primed for a host of poor life outcomes from disease to delinquency.
But the original ACEs study was never intended as a screening tool for individuals. Misapplied, it massively overpredicts trauma prevalence and impact. Researchers conflate correlation and causation, retrospectively linking adult woes to childhood events. Genetics, temperament, and environment all influence whether difficulties derail or strengthen a child. Kids deserve high expectations and opportunities to prove their resilience, not preemptive pigeonholing as "damaged goods."
Section: 2, Chapter: 6
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
Labeling Emotions Diffuses Them
Labeling is a way of validating someone's emotion by acknowledging it verbally. Give their emotion a name and you show you identify with how they feel.
The key is to label in a neutral tone, staying calm yourself. Simple phrases like "It seems like..." or "It sounds like..." work well. The magic of labeling emotions is it diffuses them. When people feel understood, their defensive walls come down and they are more open to influence.
Labeling negative emotions helps to de-escalate conflicts, while positively affirming your counterpart's worldview.
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: Never Split The Difference
Author: Chris Voss
You're More Powerful Than You Think
"You already have more power than you could ever have imagined. We all have. When I speak of going from pain to power, I am not talking about pulling the power in from any outside source. Inside of you, just waiting to emerge, is an incredible source of energy, which is more than sufficient for you to create a joyful and satisfying life."
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway
Author: Susan Jeffers
Turning Adversity Into Opportunity
The ability to transform a negative situation into a positive challenge rests on three key steps:
- Unselfconscious self-assurance: Trust in your own abilities and inner resources. Don't blame external circumstances or feel victimized. Stop comparing yourself to others
- Focusing attention on the world: Immerse yourself fully in the present situation. Let go of worries, regrets and anxieties. Look for new opportunities and silver linings
- Discovering novel solutions: Get creative, be willing to experiment. Redefine your goals based on new priorities. Develop skills needed to meet the challenge
In short, approach misfortune as you would a complex puzzle or game. Break it down, immerse in it fully, then recombine the pieces in original ways.
Section: 1, Chapter: 9
Book: Flow
Author: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
Death Anxiety Underlies Many Mental Health Struggles
The fear of death is a universal human experience. For some, it's a distant abstraction easily compartmentalized. For others, death anxiety colors every facet of life, leading to a range of psychological issues. Mortality fears may masquerade as health anxiety, phobias, panic, OCD and more.
Why is death anxiety so mentally destabilizing? Existential psychologists argue it's the ultimate unknown. We can't control the fact of our eventual demise nor the circumstances around it. Death renders everything we've worked for seemingly meaningless. It threatens our fundamental need for permanence and self-preservation.
Section: 6, Chapter: 26
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
Don't Look To Feelings As A Reliable Guide
Therapy often teaches kids to see their feelings as a valid and important signal. But feelings can be unreliable and manipulable, according to Dr. Yulia Chentsova Dutton. She argues emotions don't necessarily reflect reality and can lead us astray if followed uncritically.
Asking kids repeatedly how they're feeling has downsides. Dr. Michael Linden argues it inherently elicits negative responses, as most of the time we feel "just okay" while ignoring minor discomforts. Chentsova Dutton says focusing on momentary emotional states promotes an unhelpful "state orientation" vs the "action orientation" needed for achievement. For emotional regulation and success, kids need to be taught to be sometimes skeptical and dismissive of passing feelings.
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
"Sorry, The Twenties Don't Come With Trigger Warnings"
Many twentysomethings today grew up in a culture that emphasized constant praise, participation trophies, and emotional safety - being shielded from failure and negative feedback. But the twenty-first century workplace requires being able to tolerate discomfort and criticism. Tips for facing harsh realities:
- Don't interpret a bad moment/day as forever. This too shall pass.
- Resist all-or-nothing thinking. One mistake doesn't define your worth.
- Look for the truth in hard feedback. What can you learn from it?
- Talk back to catastrophic thoughts with facts. How likely is your worst-case scenario?
- Let yourself feel disappointment, but don't get stuck there. What's the next small step forward?
Section: 3, Chapter: 12
Book: The Defining Decade
Author: Meg Jay
Learn to Love Whatever Happens
When difficulties occur, don't just grudgingly accept them - learn to actively embrace them. Have an attitude of "amor fati" - a love of fate. See obstacles as opportunities to grow, learn, and improve. Be grateful for the chance to test yourself and develop your abilities. Maintain a cheerful equanimity in the face of adversity, knowing it's making you stronger. Don't just bear misfortune - thrive because of it.
Section: 3, Chapter: 19
Book: The Obstacle Is the Way
Author: Ryan Holiday
Practicing Objectivity by Describing Events Without Embellishment
Develop the skill of describing events objectively, without exaggeration or embellishment. Stick to the facts of what happened, without ascribing meaning or making judgements. See things for what they are, not how you wish or fear them to be. By separating perception from reality, you can assess situations more accurately and avoid unproductive emotions.
Section: 1, Chapter: 4
Book: The Obstacle Is the Way
Author: Ryan Holiday
The Value Of Suffering
Drawing on academic research, Manson discusses how many trauma survivors, such as victims of sexual assault or military veterans, report becoming stronger, more self-aware and more grateful in the aftermath of terrible experiences.
This phenomenon is called post-traumatic growth. It shows how humans are incredibly adaptive, and that we often emerge from suffering and adversity with a newfound appreciation for life and inner resilience. Suffering reveals what really matters to us.
Of course, Manson is not arguing that traumatic events are good. Only that humans have a remarkable capacity to create meaning and grow from even the worst experiences imaginable. Suffering is inevitable - it's how we relate to it that matters.
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Author: Mark Manson
Change Your Relationship With Painful Feelings
When gripped by emotional pain, the natural instinct is to try to make it go away as quickly as possible. This avoidance often backfires, prolonging suffering or causing it to resurface more intensely later. A more effective approach:
- Recognize emotions aren't facts, but sensations that come and go when you allow them to run their natural course
- Turn toward pain with curiosity, openness and self-compassion rather than criticism or resistance
- Get to know your patterns - what situations trigger you and how do you typically react?
- Have a toolbox of healthy self-soothing strategies to ride out intense feelings safely
Painful emotions are an inevitable part of life - you can't control what arises, but you can build resilience in how you respond.
Section: 3, Chapter: 10
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
Numbing Normal Feelings Robs Teens Of Crucial Skills
Many parents, in an effort to alleviate their teens' distress, are quick to seek medication for the normal mood swings of adolescence. But psychologist Scott Monroe cautions there are serious drawbacks to this:
"If you give [adolescents] medication for anxiety - and I would say, you could extend it to depression - if you palliate those symptoms, you are messing with the natural adaptive resources of the human being that has evolved over centuries. I'm not a biologist - I don't know how badly it can impair brain development. But it seems like those are prime years. I'd want to find alternatives before implementing that."
Experiencing difficult emotions like heartbreak, disappointment, anxiety and sadness - and learning to cope with them - is part of how teens build resilience.
Section: 2, Chapter: 10
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
The Fake Snake And The Real Anxiety
Evolution has primed our minds to see threats, even where none exist. 99 times out of 100, rustling in the bushes is just the wind - but running away each time kept our ancestors alive the one time it really was a predator. Similar "false positives" occur with social threats - we may lie awake worrying how people will react to an upcoming presentation, even though it will likely go fine.
Mindfulness meditation allows us to step back and see the false alarms generated by anxious thoughts without getting caught up in them. Over time, this weakens the tendency to generate needless anxiety in the first place. The evolutionary default is to treat all threats as real, but we can train the mind to be more discerning.
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: Why Buddhism Is True
Author: Robert Wright
Rekindling Aliveness through Rhythm and Theater
Communal rhythmic activities and theater can serve as powerful tools for trauma recovery. Moving together to a shared beat fosters a sense of attunement, connection, and empowerment - experiences often shattered by trauma. Theater allows survivors to safely express and transform their stories through embodied role-play and collective creation. By physically experimenting with new possibilities, they can reclaim a sense of agency and spontaneity. These expressive arts tap into the emotional brain and invite the whole self into a space of witnessed authenticity. They remind trauma survivors of their capacity to create beauty and meaning from the fragments of pain.
Section: 5, Chapter: 20
Book: The Body Keeps the Score
Author: Bessel van der Kolk
"You're Only As Healthy As Your Secrets"
Many twentysomethings date down in their twenties and settle for partners they know are a poor match. Why stay?
- Low self-worth - "I don't deserve better"
- Misplaced hope - "They will change"
- Embarrassment - "I don't want friends/family to know how bad it is"
- Lack of relationship experience - "Maybe this is as good as it gets"
The key to breaking the cycle is sharing your situation with people you trust. Let them reflect back your own worth and potential. Hiding destructive relationships perpetuates shame. Speaking up begins change. You don't have to have it all figured out. But when you name problems out loud, their power diminishes.
Section: 2, Chapter: 9
Book: The Defining Decade
Author: Meg Jay
Therapy Can Help, But Crucially, It Can Also Harm
While therapy has the potential to provide relief for mental health issues, it's critical to recognize it also carries risks of harm (iatrogenesis). Potential negative effects include:
- Convincing a patient they are sick and organizing their identity around a diagnosis
- Encouraging family estrangement and loss of key support systems
- Reducing resilience and self-efficacy
- Retraumatizing a patient
- Fostering excessive dependence on the therapist
Especially for children, the power imbalance between therapist and patient makes them vulnerable to harm. Parents should carefully weigh risks and only pursue therapy for kids if clearly needed.
Section: 1, Chapter: 1
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
Cultivate These 5 Mental Health Defense
Just as the body needs good nutrition, the mind needs consistent nourishment too. Make a habit of tending to these 5 "defense players" to fortify your mental health:
- Exercise - Boosts mood, energy and cognitive function. Find something you enjoy and can stick with.
- Sleep - Poor sleep makes everything harder. Optimize your wind-down routine and sleep environment.
- Nutrition - Food feeds the brain. Traditional diets like Mediterranean show mental health benefits. Make small improvements where you can.
- Routine - Having a daily rhythm balances your nervous system. Notice when you get off track and course correct.
- Connection - Social support is vital for wellbeing. Prioritize time with others even when you don't feel like it.
Section: 1, Chapter: 5
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
Anxiety Means Your Threat Detector Is Working
Anxiety is often misunderstood as a sign that something's wrong with your brain. But anxiety is your brain's alert system for danger. It's meant to mobilize you into action - think fight, flight or freeze. The problem arises when your threat detector is oversensitive, perceiving catastrophe where there is none. To recalibrate your anxiety:
- Recognize false alarms. Your brain is wired to prioritize safety, but not all fears are facts. Examine the odds your worst case will occur.
- Externalize it. Give your anxiety a name or visualize it as an overprotective friend. Creating distance helps you think critically about the message.
- Use it as a messenger. What is your anxiety trying to tell you? Maybe there's a problem to be solved or a boundary to be enforced.
- Aim for the middle path. A life well-lived includes some risk. You're looking for the sweet spot between recklessness and complete avoidance.
Your anxiety, at its core, thinks it's keeping you safe. Befriend it, don't banish it.
Section: 6, Chapter: 22
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
Trauma Does Not Exist
Adlerian psychology rejects the Freudian notion of trauma. Trauma does not objectively exist as a causal factor in people's problems. Rather, people give meaning to past experiences in a way that suits their current purposes.
As the philosopher states: "Adler, in denial of the trauma argument, states the following: 'No experience is in itself a cause of our success or failure... We are not determined by our experiences, but the meaning we give them is self-determining.'"
People are not passively shaped by past experiences, but actively choose how to interpret and respond to them. T
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: The Courage to Be Disliked
Author: Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
Expand Your Emotional Vocabulary
The more precise your language is to describe your inner world, the better equipped you are to handle it skillfully. But many of us have a limited emotional vocabulary, defaulting to vague labels like "good" or "bad." Expanding your feeling word repertoire can actually help regulate emotions and cope with stress.
- Get specific - Go beyond "happy" or "sad". What subtle flavors or layers are present?
- Use metaphor - If your feeling was a color, texture, or weather pattern, what would it be?
- Consult a feelings wheel - Psychologists have mapped out the spectrum of emotions to help you pinpoint your experience.
When you can precisely articulate what you feel, you open up more possibilities for how to address it. Naming tames - it's the first step to gaining mastery over your emotions vs. being controlled by them.
Section: 3, Chapter: 12
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
The 8 Pillars Of Strength
When the ground crumbles beneath you after loss, it takes intentional effort and support to gradually piece life back together. These eight pillars provide a scaffold for healing:
- Continuing bonds - Find ways to maintain a symbolic connection to your loved one, like visiting special places or rituals.
- Self-awareness - Tune into your own emotional needs and limits. Practice compassionate self-care.
- Expressing grief - Give sorrow a voice through talking, writing, art, music or movement. Let it flow through you.
- Time - Release arbitrary expectations for how long grief should last. The timeline is yours alone.
- Mind-body nourishment - Tend to the physical vessel that carries your grief. Prioritize sleep, nutrition and movement.
- Boundaries - Honor your needs by saying no when you need to. Protect your energy as you heal.
- Structure - Reestablish a daily rhythm. Routines provide a sense of normalcy and forward momentum.
- Meaning - Explore what this loss means to you. How does it change your worldview? What lessons could it impart?
Section: 4, Chapter: 17
Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
"I Wish I'd Had A Good Therapist In My Twenties"
"You know, if I'd had a decent psychologist in my twenties, I probably could have started my career before I was thirty-five and had a family before I was in my forties. If you're still doing this in twenty years, I'm sending my son to you." When I asked what he would like me to say to his son, my client replied: "That you can't pull some great career out of a hat in your thirties. You've got to start in your twenties."
Section: 1, Chapter: 13
Book: The Defining Decade
Author: Meg Jay
Dreaming "Normalizes" Difficult Emotional Experiences
"That is, REM-sleep dreaming takes the painful sting out of difficult, even traumatic, emotional episodes you have experienced during the day, offering emotional resolution when you awake the next morning."
Section: 3, Chapter: 9
Book: Why We Sleep
Author: Matthew Walker
The Proper Response To Trauma May Be Not Talking About It
Dr. Richard Byng runs a program helping ex-convicts, many of whom experienced severe childhood trauma, reintegrate into society. But he's found constantly probing their traumatic memories to be counterproductive. "Quite the opposite," he argues. For those with trauma, the healthiest approach is often to acknowledge it briefly, then pivot to focusing on the present.
Byng criticizes a culture of therapy that assumes everyone benefits from talking through their pain. The insistence on "processing" can make trauma loom larger. Some do best moving forward without dwelling on the past. Even for the traumatized, a level of healthy repression is often necessary to functioning.
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
The Source of Our Suffering
"The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves" - Elvin Semrad
Van der Kolk's teacher Elvin Semrad taught that the biggest obstacles to healing are the denial, lies and self-deceptions trauma survivors tell themselves to avoid the painful truth of their past. Being honest with oneself about one's experience and feelings is an essential first step in recovery.
Section: 1, Chapter: 1
Book: The Body Keeps the Score
Author: Bessel van der Kolk
Unblock Productivity By Addressing Emotional Barriers
Part 2 of the book focuses on overcoming procrastination by tackling the emotional blockers that make us feel bad and achieve less. The three main blockers are:
- Uncertainty - Lacking clarity on why, what or when to do a task
- Fear - Anxiety about failure, judgment or not being good enough
- Inertia - Difficulty getting started and maintaining momentum
The "unblock method" aims to identify and eliminate these negative emotions at the root, rather than just treating procrastination symptoms with motivation or discipline. Each blocker is addressed in the subsequent chapters.
Section: 2, Chapter: 4
Book: Feel Good Productivity
Author: Ali Abdaal
The "Pollyanna" Debate
Jeffers shares the stories of two women, Joan and Mary, who both lost their husbands. Joan adopted a victim mentality, seeing her situation as a tragedy and becoming bitter and resentful. Mary, on the other hand, chose to see her loss as an opportunity for growth and positive change. She rebuilt her life, found new purpose, and thrived. This example illustrates how our mindset shapes our experience of reality.When you adopt a positive mindset, you become more resilient, resourceful, and attractive to others.
Section: 1, Chapter: 5
Book: Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway
Author: Susan Jeffers
Empathy Alone Is A Poor Basis For Helping Traumatized Kids
Many trauma-informed educators argue the primary way to help struggling students is by empathizing with their pain. But this is often counterproductive:
- Encouraging kids to see themselves as victims risks a self-fulfilling prophecy. Resilience, not fragility, should be the message.
- Focusing on validating kids' feelings of anger and hurt can inadvertently reinforce and prolong them. Pivoting to problem-solving builds more constructive habits.
- Lowering academic expectations robs disadvantaged kids of a path out of difficulty. Belief in their potential and insistence they develop their abilities maximizes possibilities.
Kids' hardships merit compassion, but pity is less productive than challenging them to transcend circumstances.
Section: 2, Chapter: 6
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
Disowning Feelings And Thoughts Bit By Bit
Even if one doesn't attain the complete experience of not-self, it can be useful to practice disowning feelings and thoughts a little bit at a time. When a strong emotion like anxiety or craving arises, see if you can observe it objectively for a few moments and experience it as "just a feeling" rather than something integral to your being. Notice how this creates some space around it and reduces its grip on you.
Similarly, when a repetitive thought pattern arises, like self-judgment after making a mistake, imagine it's just a voice in your head rather than the core truth about you. Viewing passing mental contents as "not-self" bit by bit chips away at the solidity of the self over time and can lighten the weight of suffering.
Section: 1, Chapter: 5
Book: Why Buddhism Is True
Author: Robert Wright
The Orchid Hypothesis
A groundbreaking theory called "the orchid hypothesis" suggests that many people are like "dandelions" that can thrive in any environment. But others are more like "orchids"—they wilt easily, but under right conditions can grow strong and magnificent.
Highly-reactive, sensitive kids fit the orchid analogy. They're more vulnerable to bad environments, but they also thrive in good environments even more than resilient, dandelion children. Research shows that not only are sensitive children NOT doomed to lives of anxiety, but that they can actually outshine their peers in supportive, nurturing circumstances.
So rather than seeing sensitive, introverted kids as fragile, parents should recognize that their kids may be unusually capable of flourishing—as long as they get the right inputs. Yes, such children need extra nurturing and protection. But that extra care can produce exceptional results.
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: Quiet
Author: Susan Cain
People Fabricate Anger
Adlerian psychology argues that emotions like anger do not arise uncontrollably, but are fabricated by the individual to serve a goal.
The philosopher gives an example of a mother who incessantly yells at her daughter, but instantly shifts to a polite demeanor when the phone rings and it turns out to be the daughter's teacher. Similarly, when the youth yells at a waiter who spilled coffee on him, the philosopher argues he didn't fly into an uncontrollable rage. Rather, he fabricated anger as a tool to make the waiter submit through a display of anger.
Section: 1, Chapter: 4
Book: The Courage to Be Disliked
Author: Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
Thinking Changes How We Perceive Things
The main idea of this chapter is captured well in two quotes - one from Shakespeare that "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so", and one from Buddha that "Our life is the creation of our mind." In other words, while we cannot always control what happens to us externally, to a large extent our experience of life depends on how we interpret and react to events mentally. This is a core tenet of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Section: 1, Chapter: 2
Book: The Happiness Hypothesis
Author: Jonathan Haidt
What A Lonely, Therapy-Saturated Childhood Looks Like
Today's teens have less in-person interaction and laughter with friends than ever. Their time is heavily scheduled and surveilled by hovering adults. School has become a vortex of "trauma-informed" emotional labor, not academics.
Immersed in the therapeutic worldview, many are quick to pathologize setbacks as mental health crises. Inundated with morbid messages, death by suicide feels like a looming specter. Learned helplessness is endemic as teens marinate in their diagnosis of brokenness.
Anxious parents outsource the heavy lifting of mentorship and guidance to paid professionals. But while well-meaning, therapy is often a flimsy backstop against the ennui of a medicated, artificially prolonged adolescence. Atrophied by overaccommodation, young adults feel stranded between childhood and independence.
The path forward is the same as it's always been: embracing the bog-standard discomforts of the human condition and growing the hell up already.
Section: 3, Chapter: 12
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
The Autotelic Approach To Misfortune
Even people facing extreme adversity - debilitating injuries, life in concentration camps, poverty and oppression - have found ways to turn the situation into a flow experience.
Fausto Massimini studied a group of paraplegics who suffered permanent paralysis in accidents. Many of them described the accident as one of the most negative events in their lives - but also one of the most positive. The onset of paralysis gave them a clear set of challenges to overcome and skills to develop. It provided a structure for setting meaningful goals.
One participant, Lucio, considered becoming paraplegic like "being born again." He had to relearn basic skills, master his environment in a whole new way. He went back to college, graduated, found an engaging job, and took up fishing and archery.
Section: 1, Chapter: 9
Book: Flow
Author: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Insomnia
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is the gold standard non-pharmaceutical treatment for chronic insomnia. It involves:
- Sleep education to correct misconceptions and shape expectations
- Stimulus control to re-associate the bed with sleepiness rather than wakefulness
- Sleep restriction to increase sleep drive and sleep efficiency
- Cognitive therapy to identify and challenge anxiety-provoking thoughts about sleep
- Relaxation techniques to reduce physiological and mental arousal before bed
Randomized controlled trials show CBT-I improves both sleep onset and sleep maintenance problems. Benefits are often seen within 4-8 sessions and last for months to years after training. Importantly, CBT-I achieves these gains without the risks and side-effects of sleeping pills. It is a safe, effective and durable treatment that addresses the root causes of insomnia.
Section: 4, Chapter: 15
Book: Why We Sleep
Author: Matthew Walker
Harnessing Brain Science in Trauma Therapy
Understanding how trauma affects the brain can guide therapists in choosing effective interventions. Since trauma disrupts left-brain functions like language and sequential processing, therapeutic methods that rely solely on talking things through are likely to fall short.
Therapies must also target physiological hyperarousal, using techniques like breath work, mindfulness, or yoga to help patients feel safe and grounded in their bodies.
Integrating traumatic memories requires activating both right-brain sensory experience and left-brain narrative processing. Treatments like EMDR that bilaterally stimulate both sides of the brain may help with this integration process.
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: The Body Keeps the Score
Author: Bessel van der Kolk
Good Therapy Doesn't Create Disorder Where None Exists
"Ortiz absolutely believes in the ameliorative power of specific kinds of therapies, especially cognitive-behavioral and dialectical behavior therapies (known as CBT and DBT) for remediating specific ailments like tic disorders, affective disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder... But he has enough respect for the power of therapy to reject the idea that everyone should be in therapy, a notion Ortiz likens to a surgeon who ventures: Well, he looks healthy, but let's open him up and see what we find."
Section: 1, Chapter: 3
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
Courage Is Found By Knowing, Facing And Reframing Fear
Chapter 5 addresses fear as a cause of procrastination and low productivity. Three steps help build courage:
- Know your fear. Label anxieties to strip them of power. Explore their roots.
- Reduce fear's hold. Put worries in perspective using the 10/10/10 rule - will it matter in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years? Build confidence by focusing on the process over outcomes.
- Overcome paralysis. Recognize most people are focused on themselves, not judging you. Embody a confident alter ego to access inner courage.
While fear may never vanish entirely, using these tools allows you to take action despite it. Moving from fear to courage restores productivity.
Section: 2, Chapter: 5
Book: Feel Good Productivity
Author: Ali Abdaal
The Uses of Adversity
Haidt explores the concept of post-traumatic growth - the idea that struggling with adversity can sometimes make people stronger, wiser, and more fulfilled in the long run. While trauma is of course negative in the short-term, overcoming it can increase resilience, self-understanding, and ability to cope with future challenges. Key mechanisms of growth include:
- Revealing hidden abilities and changing self-concept
- Strengthening relationships through crisis
- Shifting priorities and philosophies
Not all adversity leads to growth - trauma can be shattering if it is too severe or the person lacks sufficient support and resources to cope.
Section: 1, Chapter: 7
Book: The Happiness Hypothesis
Author: Jonathan Haidt
Trauma and Compassion
Unresolved childhood trauma - whether "Big T" traumas like abuse or "little t" chronic emotional neglect - lies at the root of many mental health and addiction issues in adulthood. These traumatic experiences wire the developing brain for heightened stress reactivity and dysfunctional coping mechanisms. Healing involves revisiting and processing these wounds with the help of trained therapists and evidence-based modalities like cognitive processing therapy and EMDR.
Self-criticism and negative self-talk often stem from internalized childhood voices and experiences. To heal, you must develop self-compassion - treating yourself with the same kindness, understanding and encouragement you would extend to a good friend or loved one. Talk to your inner child with nurturance and empathy. Catch self-judgment and reframe it. Forgive yourself when you make mistakes.
Section: 3, Chapter: 17
Book: Outlive
Author: Peter Attia
When Suffering Becomes Identity
Melanie has accommodated her son Dylan's every sensitivity, avoiding activities and situations that make him uncomfortable. Finally one prescribed Lexapro, an antidepressant, despite no clear diagnosis. Now Melanie wonders if the medication is even helping as Dylan's anxiety continues to rule the family's life.
For kids like Dylan, a diagnosis often becomes the organizing principle of their identity. Minor setbacks feel catastrophic as they lose faith in their own natural resilience. Well-meaning parents, overly focused on "fixing" their kids with therapy and meds, end up pathologizing them instead.
Section: 2, Chapter: 10
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
The Sound Is Just The Sound
"Ajahn Chah, a twentieth-century Thai monk who did much to spread awareness of Vipassana meditation in the West...once recounted a time when he was trying to meditate and kept getting interrupted by sounds from a festival in a nearby village. Then, as he recalls it, he had a realization: 'The sound is just the sound. It's me who is going out to annoy it. If I leave the sound alone, it won't annoy me.'"
Section: 1, Chapter: 5
Book: Why Buddhism Is True
Author: Robert Wright
More Treatment Has Not Meant Less Mental Illness
Despite a 75-year surge in mental health treatment availability and sophistication, rates of anxiety and depression in young people have swelled. A "treatment-prevalence paradox" has emerged, where expanded access to therapy and medication has not reduced mental illness prevalence as expected.
Therapists argue this is because today's youth face unprecedented stressors compared to previous generations, such as smartphones, social media, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, and climate change fears. But the author contends that adolescent mental health has been slipping since the 1950s, long before these modern issues existed. She suggests that perhaps the mental health complex itself, in pathologizing normal stress, inhibiting coping skills, and creating dependence, is part of the problem rather than the solution.
Section: 1, Chapter: 12
Book: Bad Therapy
Author: Abigail Shrier
Books about Therapy
Therapy
Parenting
Psychology
Society
Bad Therapy Book Summary
Abigail Shrier
In "Bad Therapy," journalist Abigail Shrier argues that today's pervasive "therapeutic" culture and overzealous mental health interventions are harming young people by promoting learned helplessness, pathologizing normal emotions, and inhibiting the development of resilience.
![Bad Therapy Book Summary](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/dzvn57js/production/a5dca4e42b0194aa31738561c655c6f46c9fdb2a-993x1500.jpg)
Psychology
Therapy
Self-Help
Personal Development
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before Book Summary
Julie Smith
In "Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?", Dr. Julie Smith shares practical insights and tools from therapy to help you navigate life's challenges, build resilience, and create a meaningful life aligned with your values.
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Mental Health
Psychology
The Body Keeps the Score Book Summary
Bessel van der Kolk
The Body Keeps the Score revolutionizes our understanding of trauma's impact and offers a science-backed roadmap to healing the mind, brain and body.
![The Body Keeps the Score Book Summary](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/dzvn57js/production/2d42d06de591b1d19bffb6d04e2d1b313a32f40b-1200x1846.jpg)