This book was given to me as a Christmas gift from my therapist at the time. She kept recommending I buy it and I never did, so she gave it to me. I read through it and thought, "I thought my therapist understood me?". The book basically states that if you can change the way you think about situations, you will improve your mood. The book takes you through a series of exercises presenting particular situations and how would you respond. It has examples of negative thoughts and then positive ones. Well, I get that, BUT...I was severely depressed when I was given this book. And for those of you in the depression boat, you know it's got nothing to do with changing your "thoughts". Gee, if it were that easy I would be happy 100% of the time....! And I get that cognitive therapy isn't just about changing your negative thoughts, but every time I picked up this book and worked through it, it just never helped me. I wanted it to. I really, really wanted it to. I was kind of disappointed because I really liked my therapist A LOT and after reading the book I no longer felt she "got me"...Oh well, I'm better now anyway, for the most part...I think.

Oh, and the reason I say it's a great book is because it is written by two well-known therapists and I think this book can help some people out there, just maybe not the severely depressed.