Acceptance in cognitive therapy

You might be interested in reading what David Burns has to say about the *acceptance paradox* in both his Feeling good handbook and the newer Ten Days to Self esteem. As I understand it he feels that our underlying beliefs of ourselves as defective, unworthy etc. are only half of the problem. The other half is the intense shame accompanying these beliefs and the resultant fear of exposure. The acceptance paradox involves coming to terms with the undeniable truth that we are all broken, have made many mistakes (often "terrible" ones), and in fact have many defects in our characters, etc but doing so with a sense of acceptance and inner peacefullness. He gives role playing exercises and suggestions to help people come to this state. I think that this can be used effevtively with underlying beliefs in which shame plays an important role.

I hope this helps!

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