In this video Jules Evans explains how "millions of people have got access to the theraputic wisdom of the ancient Greeks" through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. He was a student of CBT first and then became a Stoic as a result.
It happened like this: after benefiting from CBT Evans decided to look up its founder, Albert Ellis. Ellis, at the age of 92, gave Evans an interview (his last). Ellis described how, as a Fruedian psychoanalyst, he had become frustrated by his patients' lack of progress. He looked back to his earlier studies and revisited Epictetus. He synthesized some of Epictetus's teachings into a new therapy which has been proven by science to be highly effective.
In light of this one might ask why Stoicism is necessary at all, since we have a modern evidence-based version. Evans gives us two reasons. First, because the ancients expressed Stoic ideas in some of the most beautiful language available in the Western canon, and that makes Stoicism highly persuasive. Second, CBT left some things out. Specifically it left out a concept of virtue, or what it means to live a good life. Also it left out higher questions such as "what is the meaning of life?" and "what does it mean to flourish?"
Worth your time.
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
he had become frustrated by his patients' lack of progress.
ReplyDeleteRoyal1688