Belief Therapy Volume II: Finding Freedom in Everyday Life

By PhD Daniel L. DeGoede

Belief Therapy Volume II: Finding Freedom in Everyday Life exposes a simple thought process to enhance our lives: there is nothing wrong with us. We are already okay, there is nothing to fix, there never was. It is that simple.

Oddly enough, it is often the attempts to fix ourselves that lead to our dis-ease.&nbs

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everyday Life Solutions
• Release date: Sep 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9780966374537

PhD Daniel L. DeGoede

Dr. DeGoede is a licensed clinical psychologist who developed Belief therapy, a concept that goes beyond cognitive therapy. During his fifty years of providing mental health services to a diverse population, he wanted to provide a therapeutic methodology that could be adapted into every aspect of someone's life. He has devoted his adult life to communicating the necessary principles of a life of quality. Dr. Degoede believes, "To have freedom, pleasure and quality in our life, it is first necessary to explore the inner world of our own beliefs."

Book preview

 Praise for Belief Therapy

This remarkable book... describes how beliefs originate in childhood, how they gradually empower or disempower people’s lives.

Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychology Saybrook Institute

Author and co-author of over 700 books and publications

Who’s who in America

Who’s who in the World

Internationally known researcher and Psychologist

"Belief Therapy presents in a very clear, emotional yet perceptive 

and creative way elemental insights into what it means to be human."

Robert F. Butts

Co-Creator of the Seth/Jane Roberts books

"Dr. DeGoede’s book spells out the obvious. In fact, like higher 

order math, it is so simple and obvious that almost no one can see it. 

In short, he explains how to escape belief jail and create the life 

experiences we truly want."

Gary Emery, Ph. D.

Owner and Director of Los Angeles Center for Cognitive Therapy

Co-author with Aaron Beck of 

Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective

Over 66 publications, audio and video tapes

�Dr. DeGoede’s Belief Therapy enables clinicians to truly address the root issues of their clients. Our ability to maintain  healthy attachments is related to our core beliefs. I frequently incorporate his theory with my SPMI clientele. After all, once a client believes that they are not broken, true progress can be made in therapy.

Alex Klein M.S.

Licensed Professional Counselor

�An eye-opening and riveting journey that examines the power beliefs truly hold in our lives. This book provides the reader with crystal-clear vision into a lifestyle of freedom. A read that will profoundly affect and hold meaning for all who take part.

Amanda Shelley, M.Ed. 

Curriculum and Instruction

Multiple Subject Teacher

"Bravo DeGoede for steering clear of technical jargon, and putting together an astute, comprehensive, and motivational book with the 

potential to enhance and save lives. Long awaited; something fresh and loaded with personality."

Michael Gantenbien, N.C.A.C.II, C.A.D.C., I.C.A.D.C.

National Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor

"Dr. DeGoede’s Book is excellent. He converts the most complicated situations into easy to read, understandable reality terms. This book 

is a page turner, once you begin you cannot stop."

Jeff McDonald, C.A.D.A.C., C.E.A.P.

Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor

C.E.O. Canyon Ridge Hospital

Belief Therapy clearly spells out people’s role in their own upset. More importantly, it also points out people’s role in their own recovery of happiness and meaning in life.

Gordon F. West, Ph.D., Ed.S.

Eisenhower Medical Center, Dept. of Pastoral Care

Chaplain and Employee Assistance Coordinator

Adjunct Instructor, College of the Desert, Palm Desert, California

"Enlightening, innovative! Belief Therapy is an invaluable resource 

for enhancing the quality of daily living. For the first time I found 

happiness because of implementing the resources provided in your book."

Cheryl Aguilar, A.D.N., RN

Critical Care Registered Nurse

Loma Linda University Medical Center

"I believe a great addition to every prescription written by a physician should include a copy of Belief Therapy, by Daniel L DeGoede. 

Good stuff for every patient in sickness and health!"

Robert B. Renno, RN

Director of Clinical Services

Charter Behavioral Health Systems

The readability and intuitive correctness of Belief Therapy will surely afford it a place in the personal collections of students of the behavioral sciences as well as those who are desperately looking for a way out.

Kenneth D. Kassinger, M.S.H.S.A., C.A.S.

Master of Science, Health Service Administration

American Academy of Healthcare

Providers in the Addictive Disorders

"This book is a road map for readers who are ready to take charge of their 

own destiny."

Diana Hanyak, CEO

Charter Behavioral Health System of Southern California/Corona

We like to think that we make our ideas and make our beliefs but in truth our ideas and our beliefs are what make us. Dr. DeGoede’s book clarifies this point in a highly readable, comprehensible, and most of all, simple fashion. It is a must!

Patrick MacAfee, Ph.D.

Marriage, Child and Family Counselor

Certified Addictions Specialist

American Academy of Health Care Providers

"Simple and Elegant. This book shows a pathway to enhance pleasure and restore meaning to our lives. A wise and practical text from a 

seasoned psychotherapist."

Craig Lambdin, MA, M.F.C.C.

Executive Director of My Family Incorporated Recover Center

Multi Program Chemical Dependency Treatment Center

"Dr. DeGoede’s book, Belief Therapy, shows his deep understanding 

of the emotional process and the power of the human mind to be 

instrumental in self-healing. 

Gary Osentowski, L.C.S.W.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Dr. DeGoede’s book, Belief Therapy, reflects his humanistic approach which gives new meaning to personal empowerment and possibilities. Using the approach as discussed in his book, may precipitate concrete changes and bring renewed direction to life.

Karen Wardell, M.Ed., B.S.N.

Consultant to California State Department of Education

Administrative Program Specialist, Special Education

Dr. DeGoede offers a guide to a rich life in simplistic form and is able to make his teachings understood by all segments of society.

Edward F. Reed, Ed.D.

Director of After Care Recovery Center

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Belief Therapy is a book that should be in every college and high school library! This is a valuable and useful work and will have deep impact on readers.

Jane Van Roekel, R.S.P.

Religious Science Practitioner

High School Counselor, Metaphysics Teacher

Spiritual Counselor and Practitioner

"Belief Therapy clearly communicates that the inability to overcome the limitations of your belief system is the biggest obstacle to 

achieving true happiness."

Mitchell J. Cohen, M.F.C.C.

Marriage, Family and Child Counselor

Belief Therapy not only helps the reader to identify destructive core beliefs, but also enlightens and challenges the reader to make positive changes in their core belief systems.

Vickie Wilson, C.A.C.

Certification: Alcohol and Drug Studies

Family Counselor

 Media

"Pixie Dust is for believing

so it this book"

the sun tribune 

VERY DYNAMIC

PENTLAND PRESS

SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

INLAND EMPIRE MAGAZINE

A DICTUM TO EMPOWER

THE INDEPENDENT

ENTERTAINING

KHPY RADIO

ILLUMINATING

THE PRESS ENTERPRISE

A FRESH LIGHT OF POSSIBILITY

��AUDREY DEL AMARTRE

NATIONAL REVIEWER

Duck Logo EDL Productions

Published by EDL Productions

La Pine, Oregon 97739 

Copyright  c  2019 by Daniel L. DeGoede, Ph.D.

Cover and Photography: Daniel L. DeGoede, Ph.D.

Design and Style: Sandy Golden Eagle

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 

ISBN 978-0-9663745-3-7

Disclaimer

Belief Therapy, Finding Freedom in Everyday Life, is educational in nature. It is designed to offer the reader the opportunity to explore their own beliefs. It is not designed to substitute for needed medical, psychiatric, or psychological treatment.

DEDICATION 

This work is dedicated to my wonderful wife and life mate, Judy.  Also, without the love and support of my four children, fifteen grandchildren, and seventeen great grandchildren, my life would lack the meaning and Spirit necessary that makes it all worthwhile.  I especially dedicate my heart and soul to Daniel and Dana, my sons who have passed on.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to acknowledge Sandy Golden Eagle for the extensive help in creating this work. Her thoughts and skills were an essential part of this project.

INTRODUCTION

"To have freedom, pleasure and quality in our life, it is first necessary to 

explore the inner world of our beliefs."

To understand Belief Therapy, it is necessary to understand that the primary, most revolutionary and perhaps remarkable tenet of Belief Therapy is also its most simple. It is that: there is nothing wrong with us.

We are already OK. There is nothing to fix and there never was. Oddly enough, it is often our attempts to fix ourselves that leads to our dis-ease.

The problem is our belief in our brokenness. This belief causes compulsive, self and/or other destructive behavior, which then creates evidence of our brokenness, continuing the self-fulfilling prophecy of desperation and limitation.

Once the belief in our brokenness takes hold, our options become limited. We either attempt to fix what was never broken, which creates distress, dis-ease and obsessive/compulsive behavior; or, we give up trying to fix ourselves, accept the belief in our brokenness or badness and subsequently act in limiting and destructive ways. Either direction leads to a path which lacks the quality and joy that is our birthright. By adopting the tenets of Belief Therapy and recognizing our inherent and pre-existing goodness, we lose these limiting and compulsive behaviors and recognize our freedom to choose a life of quality.

To begin this process, it is first necessary to examine the inner world of our beliefs. I invite you to share that journey with me.

 1 The Appearance of Brokenness in the World

To begin a book asserting that we are all inherently good in the face of a world filled with destructive and violent behavior requires, at best, explanation, and at worst, risks ridicule. So, let me try the explanation first.  If it is insufficient, I will suffer the ridicule later.

Self-Destruction

Let’s begin with an explanation of self-punishing or self-destructive behavior.

First, self-destructive behaviors come in many different forms.  They range from the obvious, like self-mutilation and suicide, to the not so obvious such as negative self-talk, lack of confidence and minor, daily, obsessive/compulsive behaviors which limit pleasure in life.  The range in the middle is extensive.  In fact, as good as we are at attacking others, we are even better at attacking ourselves.

We punish ourselves with abusive behaviors, because we feel guilty.  And, we feel guilty because we believe in our brokenness.  Our self-punishment is a direct evidence of our inherent goodness.  If we were truly bad, we would not feel the need to punish ourselves!  It is precisely because we are good that we judge our behavior so harshly.

Why do we act in insensitive, cruel and limiting ways? Again, because we believe we are bad.  We have been taught to judge our feelings, thoughts, dreams,