Beginning in the 1950s, Albert Ellis laid the foundations for a major portion of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with his colorful descriptions of negative thought patterns, descriptions that remain useful to the present day. Yet these venerable tools also have their limitations and misuses.

When someone is deep in thought, we say “I could see the gears turning in their head.” But what happens when those gears refuse to turn properly?

It was only when I came to realize that the most traditional and commonly accepted approaches I had learned in training as a psychologist were not useful in helping people understand and deal with the disturbed characters in their lives that everything began to change.

Dr Simon’s series continues with the sixth of ‘ten commandments’ of character development: think before you act.

Guest contributor Kate Le Page, author of Goodbye Ana, shares her experience of recovery from anorexia nervosa.

One of the more subtle ways that a person hell-bent upon power and control can veil their will to dominate is to cloak it under the cover of subservience to a higher cause or the purported desire to be of service.

Disordered characters don’t want you to know what they’re all about or what they’re up to. Lying helps keep them one-up on you and a step ahead of you.