ABSTRACT
Assumptions and rules viewed as contracts that clients have drawn up with themselves. For example, a client's contract was, 'If I help my friends, then they should help me'; however, the terms of contract were often unfulfilled as some of her friends did not help her when she requested it which left her feeling bitterly disappointed by her friends' 'betrayal'. David Burns pinpoints what is wrong with these contracts, they assume a natural reciprocity: 'Reciprocity is a transient and inherently unstable ideal that can only about through continued effort. This involves mutual consensus, communication, compromise, and growth. It requires negotiation and hard work'. The client did not understand this important point and assumed that her friends instinctively knew the terms of her contract, but the reality was that the contract was unilateral, not bilateral. In order to stop feeling bitterly disappointed when some of her friends, the client decided to rewrite her personal contract in more reasonable and realistic terms.
