Quotes About David D. Burns

Self-esteem can be defined as the state that exists when you are not arbitrarily haranguing and abusing yourself but choose to fight back against those automatic thoughts with meaningful rational responses.

The cognitive psychology revolution has had a dramatic impact on mental health, and two of its major names are David D. Burns and Albert Ellis. Their mantra that thoughts create feelings, not the other way around, has helped many people to get back in control of their lives because it applies logic and reason to the murky pool of emotions.

World-Directed Shoulds lead to frustration and anger when the world doesn't meet our expectations. For example, I sometimes tell myself that this or that software program shouldn't be so dang complicated and hard to learn!