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Unit 23: Psychotherapy: Cognitive Approach

confidence to change. A depressed person may have felt too inadequate to meet new people and Notes
improve their social life. Someone stuck in an unsatisfactory relationship may find new ways of
resolving disputes. CBT may teach someone a new approach to dealing with problems that have
their basis in an emotional disturbance.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for depression. At the heart of CBT is
an assumption that a person’s mood is directly related to his or her patterns of thought. Negative,
dysfunctional thinking affects a person’s mood, sense of self, behavior, and even physical state. The
goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to help a person learn to recognize negative patterns of
thought, evaluate their validity, and replace them with healthier ways of thinking.
At the same time, therapists who practice CBT aim to help their patients change patterns of behavior
that come from dysfunctional thinking. Negative thoughts and behavior predispose an individual
to depression and make it nearly impossible to escape its downward spiral. When patterns of thought
and behavior are changed, according to CBT practitioners and researchers, so is mood.

What are dysfunctional assumption ?

Self Assessment
1. Fill in the blanks :
(i) Cognitive approach is also called _______.
(ii) ______ observed Cognitive behaviour in 1905s and invented the term _______.
(iii) Cognitive approach of psychotherapy is an effective treatment for _______.
(iv) The patterns of faulty thinking is called _______. is cognitive approach of psychotherapy.
The focus and method of cognitive behavioral therapy sets it apart from other, more traditional
therapies:
• CBT is based on two specific tasks : cognitive restructuring, in which the therapist and patient
work together to change thinking patterns, and behavioral activation — in which patients
learn to overcome obstacles to participating in enjoyable activities. CBT focuses on the immediate
present: what and how a person thinks more than why a person thinks that way.
• CBT focuses on specific problems : In individual or group sessions, problem behaviors and
problem thinking are identified, prioritized, and specifically addressed.
• CBT is goal oriented : Patients working with their therapists are asked to define goals for each
session as well as longer-term goals. Longer-term goals may take several weeks or months to
achieve. Some goals may even be targeted for completion after the sessions come to an end.
• The approach of CBT is educational : The therapist uses structured learning experiences that
teach patients to monitor and write, down their negative thoughts and mental images. The
goal is to recognize how those ideas affect their mood, behavior, and physical condition.
Therapists also teach important coping skills, such as problem solving and scheduling
pleasurable experiences.
• CBT patients are expected to take an active role in their learning, in the session and between
sessions. They are given homework assignments at each session — some of them graded in the
beginning — and the assignment tasks are reviewed at the start of the next session.
• CBT employs multiple strategies, including Socratic questioning, role playing, imagery, guided
discovery, and behavioral experiments.
• CBT is time limited. Typically, treatment with CBT lasts 14 to 16 weeks.

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