salvatore maddi: you start with what we call situational reconstruction. this is a technique that asks you to become a kind of novelist about your own life. just let your imagination go and think of a way in which the stressful circumstance could be even much worse than it is. feeling as though i don't have any help... support from other people. salvatore maddi: the next step is to think of how the stressful circumstance could be better than it is, and the same thing there. you make up a story about it-- what would have to happen? having done that, you step back from your efforts and ask yourself whether... you've been able to put the stressful circumstance in a broader perspective because of this kind of spading up the ground. see, what you're looking for is deeper understanding. that's all mental. and if the answer is yes to both of those, then you transcend the mental approach into action. you make a plan of action that can carry out what you now know, and you act on that plan. and then when you get feedback from that, you use the feedback to recognize