ABSTRACT
Maladaptive assumptions are constructed in rigid and extreme terms such as 'If I don't always support my high standards, then this prove I'm incompetent'. The client never felt any real enjoyment when he did support his standards because he was always worried about falling below them and became depressed when he did. The client acknowledged the need to change this assumption but feared that in so doing his high standards drop sharply. Obviously, verbalizing an alternative assumption in the therapist's office carries little conviction unless the client repeatedly and forcefully acts in support of it in a variety of situations where the old maladaptive assumption was operative. By the end of therapy, the client had experienced several occasions where he fell below his high standards and focused on 'what went wrong and putting it right' instead of self-condemnation. He said that the time he previously wasted 'on feeling bad and putting myself down' was now channelled into productive problem-solving.
