The 4 stoicism values ​​that inspired psychology

How is psychology, philosophy, cognitive-behavioral therapy and stoicism related? Let's see how psychology is closely related to stoic philosophy.

Content

• Stoic philosophy
• Similarities between stoic philosophy and cognitive-behavioral psychology
• What tells us the stoic philosophy
• 1. The first stoic value, wisdom
• 2. The Stoic Value of Justice
• 3. The stoic value of courage
• 4. The stoic value of discipline
  • In summary

Stoic philosophy

Stoic philosophy, unlike others, is an eminently practical philosophy, based on changes and attitudes that can be taken very easily to daily life.

These are transformations that can really help change from the inside to modify our behavior and be happier, or how the Stoics would say Eudaimonia, Stoic happiness.

Similarities between stoic philosophy and cognitive-behavioral psychology

Marco Aurelio, Seneca and Epícto, referring to stoic philosophy, already referred to many issues that some psychologists from the 50s to 70s such as Albert Ellis or Aaron Beck, literally took them to take them to the laboratories and investigate them, carrying Thus the stoic philosophy to scientific evidence, so many of the issues that today belong to psychology were born from the Stoics. The Stoics already talked about issues that were useful, although they did not know to what extent they would be endorsed by science.

What tells us the stoic philosophy

Stoic philosophy tells us that to achieve happiness, Eudaimonia, What needs to be done is not to base this happiness on the results of our actions, but on the only thing that depends on us, in our will, on our behavior, on the reactions we have before what happens to us. This is what we have to focus our attention according to the Stoics. Thus, happiness is achieved by acting and behaving under what they call The virtue.

Virtue is a concept -based concept. For the Stoics there are four values that we will compare with cognitive-behavioral techniques to see how they relate.

1. The first stoic value, wisdom

To be happy, you have to act with virtue and wisdom.

Wisdom is linked to cognitive-behavioral therapy when we talk about the fact that we have to manage emotions, and carry everything we feel to a cognitive plane To realize that everything we see is not a reality but a perception of it, and from that reasoning, Draw facts and objective data wisely to be able to manage what we perceive and how emotionally affects us. Therefore, the value of wisdom fits perfectly with cognitive-circulation therapy and with the perception of reality.

2. The Stoic Value of Justice

The second stoic value is justice. Justice tells us that what benefits the group, benefits man, so that it motivates us to act with justice and with goodness to the group.

From cognitive-behavioral psychology, it corresponds to the concept of assertiveness, so that the rights of the person end where the rights of others begin. We have to assume that we are social beings, so we must learn to behave in society, and this provides social skills and work in assertiveness to cognitive-behavioral psychology.

3. The stoic value of courage

The third stoic value is courage. You will be happy as long as you act with virtue and courage. Sometimes we dare not address our problems because of fear, we do not do what we know we have to do for the fear of not getting it, or for fear of the consequences, and at this point, cognitive-behavioral therapy treats this fear this fear Through the behavioral part, with exposure or other scientifically endorsed techniques, to try to break with conformism and achieve exposure to problems overcoming fear of those situations. Therefore, Cognitive-behavioral therapy takes this courage and gives it a practical utility with tools such as exposure for example.

4. The stoic value of discipline

The last stoic value is discipline. Stoicism tells us that to achieve happiness you must act with discipline. Discipline is the opposite of procrastination That we talk so much today in cognitive-behavioral therapy, we have to fight short-term, against the need to postpone things that do not fancy, and understand that discipline and long-term actions are more helpful than benefits than benefits of short -term acts.

In summary

As we see, Cognitive-behavioral therapy fits as a glove in stoic philosophy because in fact one of the other is born, And in addition, many of the techniques we have today, were already used with other names by the Stoics, and what has done cognitive-behavioral theory is basically giving them scientific evidence.

Therefore, we will be happy for the Stoics and we will achieve Eudaimonia As long as we act virtue. The only thing that depends totally on us is our behavior, our will, our virtue, And if we act with virtue that is enough to achieve happiness.