Feeling Great: The Revolutionary New Treatment for Depression and Anxiety

I first read Feeling Good by Dr. David Burns years ago, and it had a big impact on how I understood and managed my negative thoughts. That book introduced me to the idea that depression and anxiety are fueled by distorted thinking, and that by challenging those thoughts, I could start to feel better. So when I found out Dr. Burns had written Feeling Great, I was eager to see what was new. I can honestly say Feeling Great takes everything that was powerful about Feeling Good and makes it even better. It builds directly on the earlier book, but the material is more refined, more organized, and packed with even more practical techniques. Dr. Burns has clearly learned a lot in the decades since Feeling Good was published, and he brings all of that experience into this updated, expanded approach. What I found especially valuable is how many tools are included, over 50 strategies you can use right away. Techniques like the Daily Mood Log, Externalization of Voices, and Positive Reframing have been incredibly useful for me. They’re simple but surprisingly powerful when you actually take the time to try them. Unlike a lot of self-help books, this one doesn’t just give advice, it gives you exercises that guide you step-by-step through the process of change. One of the most important shifts this book helped me make was in how I view negative emotions. Rather than seeing them as a sign that something’s wrong with me, I learned that they often reflect positive traits, like empathy, high standards, or a strong sense of responsibility. That insight alone helped me stop being so self-critical and start listening to what my emotions were really trying to tell me. The real-life case examples throughout the book are also inspiring. It’s amazing to read how quickly some people were able to experience major relief, even in a single session, using these methods. It gave me a lot of hope and motivation to keep applying the tools in my own life. If you’ve read Feeling Good, this is the perfect next step. If you haven’t, you can still jump straight into Feeling Great and benefit just as much if not more. Whether you're struggling with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or just want to feel better emotionally, I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s practical, compassionate, and truly empowering. It gave me hope, and more importantly, it gave me results. I highly recommend checking out the other publications from Dr. Burns. I have every one, in all formats, yes, this stuff is that good! There are also Podcasts and what I find most helpful is the Feeling Great app. I want to share how profoundly the Feeling Great material and app has changed my approach to mental health and self acceptance, which no doubt changed my life. For years, I struggled with anxiety, depression, harsh self criticism, people pleasing, and the constant feeling that I should always be "doing more." I used to rush through life, rarely enjoying the moment, and my inner critic was relentless, especially at work or when I made a mistake. Discovering this material and the app was a turning point. Unlike other mental health / self help-care apps, Feeling Great combines the proven TEAM CBT cognitive tools of Dr. David Burns with an incredibly flexible platform. I love that you can do both structured sessions and quick, custom freeform check ins and chats. I use it as a daily mood log, a place to challenge automatic negative thoughts, and even as a mindfulness tool to pause and re-center instead of falling into mindless scrolling on my cell phone. I also use it for encouragement throughout the day, even to check in when things are going well. The AI Chatbot is amazing! Some standout features in the app I've found invaluable are: Customizable Check Ins: You aren't locked into a rigid process. You can log your mood, thoughts, wins, and setbacks whenever you want. It’s like texting a therapist, except you have 24 hour access. Real-Time Cognitive Tools: The app walks you through the techniques like identifying distortions, reframing negative thinking, cost benefit analysis, downward arrow, and many more, the exact skills that have helped me break cycles of depression, anxiety guilt and more. Progress Tracking: You can see your own journey over time, which is incredibly motivating on tough days by referring back to previous sessions. Nonjudgmental Support: The Al meets you where you are, with compassion and flexibility. You can use the app for a deep dive, short session, which are both structured. Also by continuing on a previous chat session for a quick check-in, log thoughts, a lengthy chat, encouragement, ect. It's really flexible and very similar to having a human on the other end. Since using Feeling Great, I've grown more confident and assertive, learned to accept myself (flaws and all), and most importantly recover much faster from setbacks and negative moods. This app doesn’t just summarize the concepts in Dr. David Burns’ other materials including the podcasts, but it helps you apply them in a deep, personal, and interactive way. The AI chatbot is incredible. It listens, reflects, and offers insightful feedback that helps me examine my thoughts more clearly and compassionately. It guides me to uncover distorted thinking, challenge harmful beliefs, and reframe my thoughts, all in real-time, at any hour of the day, and it remembers previous chats and works it into the current chat which really reinforces empathy and connection. The app creates the experience of having a thoughtful, caring therapist right in your pocket. It’s hard to overstate how powerful that is. Even better, the AI continues to improve. With each update, it becomes even more helpful, responsive, and effective, truly an evolving tool for transformation. It's no less than Amazing. I'm not "cured," but I now have the tools and the mindset to handle life's ups and downs, instead of being overwhelmed by them. As someone concerned about privacy, I also appreciate that all personal and identifiable information is encrypted and securely stored. That kind of care and attention matters especially when you’re sharing sensitive, emotional content. A Message to Anyone Struggling. If you're reading this and struggling with anxiety, depression, or just feeling stuck, please hear this, there is hope, and there is help. For me, quitting drinking was just the first step. The real journey began when I started facing the thoughts and feelings I’d spent years avoiding. The Feeling Great material and app gave me the tools to do that, and it’s changed my life. It’s helped me uncover what was beneath the surface, put things in perspective, and start feeling like myself again. I never thought I’d escape the mental rut I was in. But I did, and you can too. If you're on the fence, or just looking for a practical and supportive way to improve your mental health, I can't recommend this material and the app enough. It's made a real, lasting difference in my life.

Dr David Burns asks us to judo flip our negative thoughts - to co-opt them for our own ends. It's a powerful set of techniques that is well thought out. Challenging or accepting negative thoughts and emotions is a big part of a number of different wellness systems - Buddhism/Zen/Mindfulness, CBT, etc. But David takes it a step further and forces us to ask ourselves - what would it look like if we didn't have these negative emotions protecting us? Driving us? Encouraging us to care and to see us and those around us thrive? At the heart of this technique is a method for finding maladaptive strategies that we've developed along the way, calling them out, finding their value, and integrating them back into the self as a positive and driving force. And it does work FAST. The initial read through and one run of the mood journal takes about 2 hours. And the results are incredible. Repeated run throughs of this process will be required long term, but the first time is the hardest - and wildly elucidating. Most of us have a few core drivers of depression and anxiety, and this set of techniques finds those fast and helps us identify those patterns in record time - and then flips them on their head so that they are working FOR you instead of AGAINST you. I've attempted a lot of different types of techniques in my life, been in therapy for years, and tried every medication under the sun, and nothing has come even close to TEAM-CBT. I'm now able to see the patterns - crystal clear - that have held me back since I was an adolescent. They say you can't "think" or "will" your way out of depression, and that is largely true. One cannot simply think "I am not depressed" and be so. But this set of techniques helps identify the harmful patterns that drive depression and anxiety, and allow one to do the work to dispel the powerful illusions at the heart of the self. This is NOT another self-help book, and though Dr David Burns honestly doesn't do a great job marketing himself, this book is a masterpiece and should be able to help anyone that's willing to put in the work, be open and honest with themselves, and trust the process. Please buy this book (or get it cheap on Kindle!) and try it for yourself.

I usually don’t write review. This book is gem. It has potential to save you thousands of dollar and maybe many years. This can get rid of your anxiety and depression as short as one hour. highly recommended. The author should be considered for noble price.

I love a good self- help book. If you ever feel down or in a dark place please get this book. It will help you understand yourself better.

This book is life changing. He is the father of CBT,providing the clear path mentally to healthy thinking and joy. The 10 cognitive distortions,like blame/shame,are revealed via real life people he has treated. His gift to all of us is a bridge away from 10 destructive ways of thinking to accurate, clear thinking which makes anyone feel GREAT he does the best thing a therapist can do,die or disappear, to allow you,to self-heal.

I can't thank dr Burns enough for the dedication he's put into helping those of us that feel stuck I'm someone that experienced cancer at the age of 4, and all the related experiences only solidified my suicidal ideation The Body Keeps the Score, by dr Bessel van der Kolk was an anecdotal precursor, but it might also work for you if there's underlining trauma Although I finished Feeling Great, I still have more homework to complete, and I'm excited to do it I've also purchased this book for 3 other friends because I believe in its power (please start from the beginning, and do the exercises; they're not too difficult, and the results are worth the few extra min per exercise) Thank you dr Burns for starting the Great Death of my Self

Dr Burns' Feeling Good book literally saved my life when I found it back in 1986 as a college student. I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I had never found it. In the years since, I have carried my original dog-eared paperback copy everywhere, using it for tune-ups whenever I needed it, and bought just about everything else Dr Burns has ever written. However, although certain distorted thought patterns (mostly related to low self esteem) disappeared for me almost literally overnight when I first read the book and were easy to defeat whenever they threatened to sneak back, with some other patterns I felt eternally stuck. I'm still a perfectionist, I still procrastinate, I still feel the urge to make everyone else happy even when it makes me exhausted. I would do the original exercises, and they would help a bit, but never like the old breakthrough. The tools in this new book have given me hope for the first time in years that I can get unstuck in those few areas I've never been able to successfully address. Positive reframing offers a tool to analyze where you might be feeling resistance and how you can overcome that resistance. The dizzying array of techniques and the charts to help choose which techniques may be especially effective for which distortions have given me a lot more ammunition to tackle stubborn negative thoughts that don't respond to a first attempt. I have a lot of work to do on myself but during what is probably the worst year of our lives for many of us, this book is yet again a lifesaver. If you struggle with any form of depression or anxiety, you owe yourself a chance to feel much, much better. BTW I bought the Kindle version first but I'm going to order the hardback as well because it is that good. Nothing wrong with the Kindle version, sometimes you just want a physical book to hold.

I started to read this book out of curiosity, after a setback I had with anxiety, 2 months ago. I somehow knew how CBT works and the methods and tools used in this therapy; was initially reluctant to believe that these methods can “fix” quickly something like anxiety, which for me was a very big of a deal! I started slowly to read and most important, APPLY these techniques. Honestly, I found quite a few distortions in my thoughts, and was surprise how much garbage we have accumulated in our minds! No wonder that we feel the way we feel - very bad! I could not believe: anxiety almost vanished in few weeks. Right now, when I’m writing this, I feel so calm and peaceful! I’ve seen some people here writing kinda negative reviews (just a few); but these reviews are without support or evidence. As a sufferer, I can confirm that CBT works pretty well all the time. And I think that a sufferer has a louder voice to confirm this, than any scientist that never experienced anxiety! Period! many scientist talk BS about therapy and this because they don’t know how anxiety works! Really! They know only by what they’ve seen as symptoms at some sufferers and that is only 1%. We, the people who know how anxiety feels like and who learnt the hard way how to resolve it, we can confirm that this method works 100%. And more important: Dr. Burns experienced many forms of anxiety himself, so who anyone else knows better than him what is anxiety? :) What helped me also was: exercising, vitamins&minerals, better hydration, yoga (breathing exercises) Stop believing the BS that anxiety disorder is incurable and u have to live with it for the rest of your life!

Update: My improvement has been exponential to what I reported in my original review after just 10 days of working thru. I am falling short of words to describe the relief. Nobody needs to waste decades of precious time struggling with Depression, Stuckness, Anxiety, Panic, Phobias, Addictions, Relationship issues and the likes when there is a way to bring in lasting change in matter of days. I strongly recommend. Go for it!! Thanks ton Dr. Burns, I am Indebted. Y N Shravan Kumar Originl review from October 2020: I have been struggling with Depression and Anxiety of high intensity for over 12 years now and have tried varied treatments with barely enough improvement. I've read and worked through this book for last 10 days , and it has really opened new possibilities which I never even dared to hope for. I am not cured totally in these 10 days, but it's the longest leap I've had in the process of recovering from Anxiety and depression. Thank you so much Dr. Burns. I am indebted for what you shared here. Highly recommend for anyone suffering to give this a try.

A life saving book!

I'm a therapist myself and I truly love this book. The many techniques Dr. Burns describes work very well. Absolute must read for anybody who wants to know more about human behavior.

One of the most important books I've ever read, expecially combined with the podcast. Can't say enough great things about it. Life changing for real.

Ho già letto "Feeling Good" sempre dello stesso autore e da subito è diventato uno dei miei libri preferiti. Ho preso anche Feeling Great spinta dalla curiosità di approfondire la tecnica creata dal Dr.Burns (TEAM CBT) e non ne sono rimasta affatto delusa. E' un libro stupendo ma...richiede molto impegno! È un ottimo supporto per chi soffre di depressione e di ansia e magari non ha la possibilità di andare da uno psicologo. Non risolve magicamente ansia e depressione ma fornisce più di 50 tecniche pratiche da poter applicare, oltre ad una spiegazione molto dettagliata delle varie distorsioni cognitive tipiche di ansia e depressione. È uno dei libri più chiari che ho letto finora sulla terapia cognitivo comportamentale: tante spiegazioni dirette ed esempi pratici.