ABSTRACT
Fennell suggests that understanding how dysfunctional assumptions formed promotes distance from them and consequently a more dispassionate evaluation of them can be conducted. This historical development usually starts early in life as children from their assumptions and rules in the light of their experiences and relationships with others; these assumptions and rules help them to make sense of the world around them. For example, a child who is harshly criticized by her parents when she is naughty, 'they are a little devil'. While this be good strategy adaptive for the child to avoid parental anger and criticism, as an adult it has become maladaptive as the client is submissive in her relationships and lives too much in the minds. By comparing and contrasting operation of assumption in childhood and adulthood, the client concluded that it had outlived its usefulness and led her to developing a moderate and self-helping assumption.
