Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for a very sick puppy
Then again, dogs are gods, too.
CBT at Kaiser, once a week, for 12 weeks, and then a party, has begun.
Today was Class 2.
I really hope this works.
The goal, I think, is Sanity. That sure would be nice.
The main idea is we can change any of the links in the chain of a three-part dynamic that characterizes all of our social interactions.
The three parts are:
Mood
Thought
Behavior
The triangle of causation and effects flows in both directions.
-Emotion, Mood, Feelings (3 ways of describing the same thing) effect
-Thoughts, Beliefs, Cognition, Ideas, Thoughts, Perceptions, Mental Formations effect
-Behavior, Action...
Another catchy way of looking at it is ABC:
Action, Belief, Consequences (emotional and behavioral)
Here's a list of emotions/emotional consequences we've come up with so far:
Negative:
frustrated, resentful, sad, depressed, angry, mad, scared/afraid/fearful, panic, alarm, anxiety, paranoia, suspicion, caution, confusion, uncertainty, worry, hurt, lonely.
That's mostly what we're working on, negative emotions.
Also, there's maladaptive thinking, like delusions, or false beliefs,
automatic thoughts, a style of thinking, that are bad because they cause us distress.
under the rubric of "Cognitive Distortions".
The thing about perceptions is
You shouldn't believe everything you think.
And just maybe you shouldn't believe
anything you think.
The idea here is to avoid mental patterns that cause distress by keeping an open mind- to try to hold in mind that perceptions are usually only theories, suppositions, possibilities, and we might be better off by taking the most charitable interpretation, if any.
My take-away is that the smart thing to do is to hold all possible explanations in your mind at the same time, and just live with uncertainty.
For example, if someone cuts you off in traffic, you might think they're a jerk, disrespecting you, harassing you, reading your thoughts, punishing you, part of a conspiracy, the CIA following you, or just in a hurry, for any number of reasons.
Your beliefs in this regard will affect your emotions and actions. You might be cautious, angry, suspicious, or even empathic (e.g. in a hurry for a good reason). And you might react anywhere in the spectrum from getting in a fight (road rage), to being somewhat irked, to just laughing it off, maybe. That's the general idea.
It's not all negative.
Positive emotional consequences:
Gratitude, Happiness
And -I think this is important-
You can be emotionally neutral:
Unperturbed, unfazed.
Cool, calm, and collected.
Having equanimity.
"Like water off a duck's back"
I kind of like the idea of being
dour, analytical.
because happiness just isn't in the biochemistry cards all the time, I'd say.
