Peaceful Mind: Using Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Psychology to Overcome Depression

"A life shaken by depression is also a life open to the possibility of deep transformation," write John McQuaid, Ph.D., and Paula Carmona, R.N., M.S.N., experts in treating depression. They recommend a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and meditation. CBT teaches you to track your thoughts, observe behaviors, and notice how these affect depression. By changing thoughts and behaviors, you learn to change your emotions and mood. Meditation trains you to observe your life and thoughts. Both can help you identify, then change, core beliefs that influence depression, resulting in new core beliefs based on your values. Peaceful Mind doesn't have the snappy sentences, pep talks, or quick-read paragraphs common to self-help books. The style is calm, the content detailed, much as a therapist might explain things to you. Sometimes the style seems gloomy (e.g. "feeling desiccated, like a dried bag of bones"), but the overall feeling is optimistic. The authors hold out hope and contentment, and a conviction that this can help you get there. Psychologist John R. McQuaid, Ph.D., heads the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention Program at the Veterans Administration. Paula E. Carmona, R.N., M.S.N., is a Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist with special training in Zen meditation. --Joan Price