The therapy is a counseling technique in which patients learn to head off or defuse self-defeating thoughts before acting on them.

I'm enjoying it too much to entertain those self-defeating thoughts.

"For example, the ability to direct and control your attention will help to prevent self-defeating thoughts, which could affect your presentations in business."

In another approach recommended for depressed women, cognitive-behavioral therapy, patients learn to recognize and correct distorted, self-defeating thoughts that lead them to feel depressed.

Those in a bad mood when tested subscribed more to the self-defeating thoughts than did those in a better mood.

One of the main skills is "constructive thinking," a method for countering the self-defeating thoughts that obsess depressed people.

Others sought the help of therapists, especially those who practice cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps people recognize their self-defeating thoughts and change their behavior.

By changing your behavior, you have started the process of correcting the self-defeating thoughts and beliefs that have made you an easy mark.

The self-defeating thoughts and beliefs that make you vulnerable to manipulation are like a virus that has infected your mental hard drive.

They are beneficial when employed with an individual struggling with self-defeating thoughts and mindset.