ABSTRACT
Clients focus on the immediate benefits derived from subscribing assumption or rule and are reluctant to look at its longer-term harmful effects; after all, why should they bother looking ahead when their assumptions or rules are currently producing good results for them? Beck et al. states these assumptions and rules: Many who believe that they need approval of everyone are often extremely happy when they think they have this approval. The job of the therapist is to help the patient see the long-term effects of operating under these rules. Clients who believe they need the approval of others to feel good about themselves are putting control over their feelings into others' hands: approval puts their mood up and disapproval brings it down. It is important for 'approval-seekers' to look ahead to see the emotional distress they are likely to experience when approval is withdrawn and to start constructing more helpful assumptions and rules that do not make their self-worth conditional.
