Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Stoic philosophy may have been born centuries and cultures apart, but they intersect at an interesting juncture called Premeditatio Malorum, a concept which translates from Latin as ‘premeditation of evils’. A Stoic exercise, this concept is about visualising potential difficulties or negative events before they happen. Interestingly, this concept parallels certain aspects of CBT.
CBT involves cognitive restructuring, that is, changing our negative and unhelpful thinking patterns to more positive, adaptive ones. In the process, it often addresses anticipating and planning for difficulties, much like Premeditatio Malorum. Let’s look at some examples:
Example 1: Overcoming Social Anxiety
In CBT, individuals with social anxiety may be guided to anticipate possible awkward situations in social settings. They may be prompted to imagine themselves at a party, feeling anxious, perhaps fearing judgement or rejection.
Stoic philosophy would approach this situation similarly. The Stoics would encourage contemplating the worst-case scenario: perhaps a social faux pas, or a flat joke, and then accepting these possibilities.
The objective, both for the CBT practitioner and the Stoic, is not to induce fear, but rather to reduce anxiety by familiarising oneself with potential outcomes and developing coping mechanisms.
Example 2: Public Speaking
Another example could be public speaking. A large proportion of individuals fear public speaking. They dread forgetting their speech, stumbling over words, or failing to answer a question.
Both CBT and Stoicism would approach this by encouraging the person to imagine the worst-case scenario: forgetting the speech or stumbling over words. The person is then asked to accept this potential reality, and in doing so, they often realise that the worst-case scenario is not as terrible as they feared.
Example 3: Dealing with Difficult Customers in Tech Support
Imagine a technical support professional bracing for a shift, knowing that they are likely to face frustrated or impatient customers. Practising the concept of Premeditatio Malorum, they visualise these challenging encounters, and even the possibility of not being able to resolve an issue.
This parallels CBT techniques where the professional would imagine the scenario, consider their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, and then work on replacing any unhelpful thoughts with more constructive ones.
Thus, Stoic Premeditatio Malorum and elements of CBT both involve a process of visualising potential difficulties and using this visualisation to mentally and emotionally prepare oneself for these situations. By doing so, both philosophies aim to reduce anxiety, improve resilience, and ultimately enable individuals to navigate life’s challenges with greater equanimity.
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