He's here to chat about Cognitive Therapy. Metalsky Central Thesis is to develop skills at identifying and modifying depressogenic cognitions. For example, if you hear someone in a library making noise, you get aggravated. When you then see the person wearing dark glasses and white cane, you feel guilty for being angry. When you find the person was faking having a handicap, you become angry again.
Cognitive distortions are the key culprit.
Metalsky The best way is to do a daily log of automatic thoughts in which one identifies the triggering event, the automatic thought and emotion it generated. One also challenges the accuracy of the automatic thoughts. In contrast, it is hard to argue with realistic thinking. Metalsky Excellent question. Metalsky Not at all.