Good Morning REBTmates!
Helping people think rationally about addictions and recovery, and especially how to approach and conduct recovery in a rational way is one of REBT’s most important contributions, in my opinion. Although Dr. Ellis, Dr. Edelstein and others have written about it, and in spite of the very fine organization, SMART Recovery http://www.smartrecovery.org/ which bases much of its approach on REBT principles, CBT and REBT are, I think, much more well-known as treatments for depression and anxiety. That is a pity, especially for many secular-atheist-agnostic people in recovery who find the religious approach of traditional “12 Step” programs unacceptable.
4 Comments
I agree, thinking towards the future is a good thing and an important step in recovery, but you must do it realistically as you stated in your post. I think a person can do this by setting realistic goals. Smaller goals will make it more likely to succeed, then work your way up to larger, more long term goals.
I think this makes sense in many people’s lives, even more so for people with depression or anxiety. A person with depression would be disappointed with anything that didn’t work out they way they want it to. Also a person with anxiety might worry themselves sick over trying to make things turn out perfectly. If either of these people plan their future realistically and train their brain to do this it could ease their minds maybe just a little at first, and I’m not saying it would be easy, but in time they might see their fears easing over all.
I can’t imagine a future I would want, or be happy in.
As my post and the article I referenced suggests, an inability or unwillingness to imagine the future is often symptomatic of depression, possibly clinical depression. Unless you are just playing with us, I hope you will take some steps to look at that possibility and work with it.