Can anyone recommend a good therapist in San Francisco (or nearby) who’s rationalism-friendly? I have some real problems with depression and anxiety, but the last time I tried to get help the guy told me I was paying too much attention to evidence and should think more spiritually and less rationally. Uh...huh.
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I’ll second drethelin; CBT is both evidence-based as a treatment method- there’s evidence it works- and evidence-based in practice, meaning you don’t have to believe in it or anything, you just follow the prescribed behaviors and observe the results. Really, it’s highly rationalism-friendly, being mainly about noticing and combatting “cognitive distortions” (e.g. generalizing from one example, inability to disconfirm, emotional reasoning, etc.). A therapist who specializes in CBT can be pretty well assumed to not be in the habit of dragging “spirituality” into their work.
I agree that CBT is well-supported by the evidence, and in general should be rationalism-friendly but that isn’t always so. The therapist I mentioned in my OP was, in fact, calling himself a CBT practitioner. So I was hoping someone knew a CBT guy (or other equally well-supported method, honestly) he personally liked.
There are a handful of CBT books that are about as effective in general as having a therapist. You might be interested in feeling good, the depression workbook, or the anxiety workbook. I recommend that you keep looking for social support as well.
You might want to look at Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT), and the affiliated organizations’ websites. There are usually a few REBT therapists in any major city.
Can anyone recommend a good therapist in San Francisco (or nearby) who’s rationalism-friendly? I have some real problems with depression and anxiety, but the last time I tried to get help the guy told me I was paying too much attention to evidence and should think more spiritually and less rationally. Uh...huh. If you don’t want to post publicly here, PM or email is fine.
I’ll second drethelin; CBT is both evidence-based as a treatment method- there’s evidence it works- and evidence-based in practice, meaning you don’t have to believe in it or anything, you just follow the prescribed behaviors and observe the results. Really, it’s highly rationalism-friendly, being mainly about noticing and combatting “cognitive distortions” (e.g. generalizing from one example, inability to disconfirm, emotional reasoning, etc.). A therapist who specializes in CBT can be pretty well assumed to not be in the habit of dragging “spirituality” into their work.
I agree that CBT is well-supported by the evidence, and in general should be rationalism-friendly but that isn’t always so. The therapist I mentioned in my OP was, in fact, calling himself a CBT practitioner. So I was hoping someone knew a CBT guy (or other equally well-supported method, honestly) he personally liked.
There are a handful of CBT books that are about as effective in general as having a therapist. You might be interested in feeling good, the depression workbook, or the anxiety workbook. I recommend that you keep looking for social support as well.
Oh. Well, that’s surprising.
Sorry, I’m not in the area.
CBT style therapy is pretty founded on science
You might want to look at Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT), and the affiliated organizations’ websites. There are usually a few REBT therapists in any major city.