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.

This book is absolutely wonderful. I got to know about this work through the Feeling Good podcast and this book is a beautifully written text encompassing many of the ideas, concepts and live therapies we hear in the podcast. A central thrust of the book is in addressing how patients resist change when working towards alleviating their symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as relationship problems and addictions. The TEAM approach is absolutely ingenious(!) if somewhat counter-intuitive: Dr Burns shows us how depression and anxiety show wonderful things about us which paradoxically allows patients to let go of their resistance, allowing them to recover. I love several aspects of Feeling Great and the TEAM approach. Firstly, it is highly systematic and scientifically-formulated. The formulation of TEAM is evidence-based and data-driven, there is even a guest chapter written by a neuroscientist (Mark Noble) who explains insights in to the neuroscience behind TEAM. On the other hand, Feeling Great is also a deeply spiritual book too, examining some philosophical aspects (such as the notion of "self" and "the death of the ego"). It is full of the most beautiful, moving anecdotes from the Feeling Good podcast where you can listen to the actual therapy sessions and see for yourself how patients rapidly recover. The book is written so empathically and with immense compassion. And although Feeling Great has both scientific and philosophical aspects, it is not stuffy or academic, but highly practical - encapsulating all of the methods, distortions and positive re-framing notes in a single, fantastic resource. I could not recommend this book highly enough - it is superb!

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.

Wenn man feststellt, dass man zum Beispiel dazu neigt gedanklich zu übertreiben oder ein sehr festgelegtes Selbstbild hat, kann man mit diesem Buch komplett lernen, das mehr zu hinterfragen. Habt bei mir fantastisch funktioniert! ☺️ verbessert mein Leben sehr!

Great book if you’re interested in CBT

A life saving book!

This book is more helpful than other CBT books because of it’s unique emphasis on firstly reframing negative emotions as manifestations of the most positive and wonderful things about you. For example, if you are depressed about not getting along with a family member, this shows that you deeply care about your relationship with them. in fact, what would it say about you if you didn’t feel upset about conflict? It would mean that you didn’t care. Or, if you get anxious about an upcoming talk, it means you really have high standards and want to do a great job. Not being anxious might mean you don’t prepare properly. Then it uses powerful tools to dial down these emotions to an appropriate level. Clear, powerful - a game changer.