Customer Reviews
Good, but not the whole story - By: S. Platt, 18 Mar 2008 
A book that describes the link between what we feel & what we think. Even though the book helped me recognise the way I looked at things, I do not think that there was enough emphasis on the way one has to cultivate a gentle approach to oneself. I would also recommend books by Dorothy Rowe. She approaches depression from the emotional, instead of the thinking, aspect of the brain. Together I think that both approaches compliment one another.
Good ideas but not very user-friendly - By: moon tree, 29 Feb 2008 
When I first looked at Feeling Good by David Burns, I thought it was an excellent book. It's packed with practical ideas for improving mood & breaking out of depression. Unfortunately, when I tried to use the book's suggestions when actuallly depressed, I found them of little use. The theory behind the exercises is sound (as I know from successfully using CBT in other contexts) but the way the book is written & laid out does not seem to have the depressed reader in mind.
Burns clearly wanted to pack in as many helpful techniques as possible, but that is actuallly the book's failing. The reader is bombarded with things to do that are often not described in very much detail. When you are depressed, you may find it hard to concentrate, have trouble making decisions, get overwhelmed easily, & above alll struggle to find energy & motivation. Feeling Good doesn't take any of these factors into account. I think if the book had presented fewer ideas & taken me through them step by step, it would have been helpful. Instead, I was left feeling as though I should be doing alll these different things, I didn't know which one to try first, I wasn't quite sure how to go about some of them, & faced with the mountain of exercises, I gave up.
Judging from the other Amazon reviews, many people have found this book helpful. I would guess it's extremely good for milder depression, where you don't have so many of the issues I described above. If you're interested in CBT but more severely depressed, I'd recommend Mind Over Mood by Greenberger & Padesky instead. It's more of an introduction to CBT, but it takes you through everything slowly, with lots of blank worksheets to fill in, & the techniques described reallly do help.
If you do buy Feeling Good, treat yourself to a nice notebook & pen as well, & above alll, pace yourself.
Seems not the best book for applying cognitive therapy for oneself - By: calmly, 22 Oct 2007 
Cognitive therapy makes sense, but I've read this book several times & have gotten little from it. I also tried the "Feeling Good Handbook" & didn't find that helpful either. However Burns apparently has had a key role in spreading the value of cognitive thereapy & this book played a key part.
My difficulty may not be with cognitive therapy but using this book (and handbook) on a regular basis. I've just found another, "Mind over Mood" by Greenberger & Padesky. It is also introduced by Aaron Beck, who pioneered cognitve therapy. But "Mind over Mood" seems short & focused. It contains about 10 worksheets (a copy of each is included in the appendix) & the author's go over each worksheet very carefully, with examples, to show you how to use them. Unlike "Feeling Good", "Mind over Mood" seems to better thought out & with your use in mind. The author's seem to know how to present. They seem careful to explain so that you are able to apply cogntive therapy techniques well.
I've only used the worksheets in "Mind over Mood" for several weeks. They seem to at least help me at the time I use them. I'm open to cognitive therapy but "Feeling Good" seems too hard to work with & like it could use a rewrite. Meanwhile, I'm taking my feelings to Greenberger's & Padkesky's "Mind over Mood".
Best D-I-Y Manual to the Self - By: Heather the Historian, 13 Oct 2007 
This is the book that cognitive psychotherapists often recommend to their patients to support their work together. Self improvement books are of questionable value to those suffering from emotional disorders, but this is an exception, though even more effective with therapy. The practical exercises can be undertaken without assistance however.
Its American idiom occasionallly grates but the material is sound. Underwriting the commonsense elements is a proven framework of cognitive behavioural pyschology derived from the original work of Aaron Beck.
One of the best books so far - By: G. Kumar, 08 Sep 2007 It did help me to look at things in life objectively.
I will highly recommend this to anyone who is feeling stressed in today's fast moving world.
