Hey. Yeah my posts do get long, don't they... I do have a tendancy to get a bit carried away... I'm still trying to figure the most readable format for my posts... The text size is very small and I think breaking it down into paragraphs is important... But maybe I get a little carried away with the one line paragraphs... Or maybe... I do just post a lot... Sorry about that.

I guess my issue is that...

The logical structure of the beliefs that are supposed to produce distress (or the evidence / lack of evidence for the beliefs that are supposed to produce distress...

Is the same as that of lots of other beliefs that we have that aren't thought to produce distress...

So... What do the first lot have in common that the second lot don't?

I don't think the logic of the beliefs is any different...
I don't think the evidence / lack of evidence for the beliefs is any different...

So I think it is wrong to call them 'illogical'
I think it is wrong / can be unhelpful to call them 'errors' or 'distortions' or 'faulty' thoughts / beliefs.

They are unhelpful for some people some of the time...

What more needs to be said?

I'm not sure that beliefs can be changed 'at will'...

I'm not sure that...

This is the best approach towards helping people get better.

What I found...

Was...

It felt like the therapist was sitting there on guard with ears pricked and nose quivering just waiting for me to say something that resembled one cognitive distortion or other...

So they could proceed to beat me over the head with my illogic.

That is how it felt.

In the name of helping?

Surely...

There are other ways to help?

Ones that might be more helpful?

I appreciate that not everyone feels this way in response...

But...

The point that some do...

Maybe that indicates that there are problems???