Comment by gdubs | Hacker News Reader

Comment by gdubs | Hacker News Reader

Dr [David] Burns is one of the people who helped popularize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in his book, “Feeling Good”. It’s cool to see these ideas becoming validated through studies. I’m not very familiar with ACT, but as an offshoot of CBT that includes a mindfulness component, it sounds fascinating.

Burns talks about the “do one small thing” strategy in his books, and (anecdotally) it can be very effective. When you’re at a point where even the small step seems impossible, he has tips on drilling into the underlying emotions. Ultimately, your brain sees the discomfort associated with not working on something as outweighing the discomfort of actually doing it. Often, this is a cognitive distortion — which CBT aims to help one sort through. And sometimes the task really isn’t worth doing.

I know I go on a lot about meditation in my comments, but (again n=1) it can help clarify thoughts and emotions — particularly the kind of cognitive distortions that lead to self-destructive habits. Now I’m curious to learn more about ACT...

Sharing a 10 year journey here that involved both CBT and ACT. This may be oversimplifying it but I see various philosophies in order of how low they strike at the root. Obviously the implicit advice I'm giving is to go as low to the root (bottom of the list) as resonates with you:

* CBT: challenge negative ways of thinking

* ACT: be aware of thinking (don't overthink thinking), and commit to a direction.

* Mainstream Zen: very similar to ACT without the purpose/commitment component. After all, what's the purpose of purpose?

* Vipassana: super involved with awareness of present starting with a breathe practice. (Mindfulness bootcamp if you can't seem to inquire.)

* Morita Therapy: same as ACT but with a step toward questioning the thinker

* Advaita Vedanta (or I've heard Dzogchen Zen): challenge the thinker/contemplator/meditator. "Who am I?" root out the original thought of a separate self. Recommended: Ramana Maharshi, Papaji, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Mooji (or Cloud of Unknowing if your Christian).

EDIT: your → you're

Thanks for the details! Now I'll be busy a few hours researching all these, therefore procrastinating :)

ha, shortcut: skip to the end

I spent two years with a fantastic psych in the bay who studied under Burns. She used a combination of 50% ACT, 50% Burns CBT and it was very impactful. Workbooks for homework were The Happiness Trap and the Feeling Good Handbook.

Fundamentally changed my life for the better.

Would you mind sharing the name of the psychiatrist? I'm looking for one.

Vandana Aspen, draspen.com.

I found her by searching Psychology Today's listings and looking for therapists who specialized in CBT and little else.

Who was it?

This is an excellent book. Also consider Behavioral Activation (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_activation), which is a somewhat competing theory that essentially says that doing is what really matters and that what you're thinking is much less important.

Just getting yourself to do things might be the key. Easier said than done, of course, and it's almost just a restatement of the procrastination problem.

When I was younger and living alone this used to be cleaning my apartment on Sunday; always. No matter how much I procrastinated on other stuff during the week or month, or how I felt, I would always clean on Sunday. Created a nice little bit of "responsibility continuity" so to speak. Mixed with a few other life-admin rituals throughout the week this always helped maintain a base level of discipline through ups and downs.

Ken Burns -> David Burns

Fixed, thanks :)

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