[Mental health from a cognitive-behavioral perspective]

This paper presents a succinct overview of the conception of mental health held by the cognitive-behavioral paradigm. For some of these models, human suffering is ubiquitious and largely unavoidable. Therefore, suffering cannot be linearly equated to pathology. Mental health implies acting towards achieving our valued goals, despite the negative emotions and thoughts that this may activate. The paper describes some cognitive and metacognitive phenomena characteristically associated to psychopathology, as well as some principles to establish the normalcy of both emotional experience and behavior. It establishes a difference between consultations motivated by mental disorders and those motivated by life crises and by a desire of achieving personal growth. Finally, the paper analyzes the conditions in which implementing treatment is desirable and necessary.