Page 259 - DEDU502_GUIDANCE_AND_COUNSELING_ENGLISH

Unit 23: Psychotherapy: Cognitive Approach

• In the 1960s, Aaron T. Beck. psychiatrist, observed that during his analytical sessions, his Notes
patients tended to have an internal dialogue going on in their minds, almost as if they were
talking to themselves.
• Studies have shown that cognitive therapy is an effective treatment for depression. It is
comparable in effectiveness to antidepressants and interpersonal therapy or psychodynamic
therapy. The combination of cognitive therapy and antidepressants has been shown to be
effective in managing severe or chronic depression. Cognitive therapy has also proven beneficial
Beck found that people weren’t always fully aware of such thoughts, but could learn to identify
and report them.
• Cognitive therapy recognizes 10 common patterns of faulty thinking, which are known as
cognitive distortions.
(i) All-or-Nothing Thinking (ii) Overgeneralization
(iii) Mental Filter (iv) Disqualifying the positive
(v) Jumping to Conclusions (vi) Magnification and Minimization
(vii) Emotional Reasoning (viii) Should Statements
(ix) Labeling and Mislabeling (x) Personalization
• CBT is based on a model or theory that it’s not events themselves that us, but the meanings we
give them. If our thoughts are too negative, it can block us seeing things or doing things that
don’t fit - that disconfirm
• Beck suggested that these thinking patterns are set up in childhood, and become automatic
and relatively fixed.
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy acts to help the person understand that this is what’s going on.
It helps him or her to step outside their automatic thoughts and test them out. CBT would
encourage the depressed woman mentioned earlier to examine real-life experiences to see
what happens to her, or to others, in similar situations.
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy differs from many other types of psychotherapies because sessions
have a structure. rather than the person talking freely about whatever comes to mind. At the
beginning of the therapy, the client meets the therapist to describe specific problems and to set
goals they want to work towards.
• Working on homework assignments between sessions, in this way, is a vital part of the process.
• The reason for having this structure is that it helps to use the therapeutic time most efficiently.
It also makes sure that important information isn’t missed out (the results of the homework,
for instance) and that both therapist and client think about new assignments that naturally
follow on from the session.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy is not a miracle cure. The therapist needs to have considerable
expertise - and the client must be prepared to be persistent, open and brave. Not everybody
will benefit, at least not to full recovery, in a short space of time. It’s unrealistic to expect too
much.
• The following illustrate the ways in which CBT can work.
• CBT tries to teach people skills for dealing with their problems. Someone with anxiety may
learn that avoiding situations helps to fan their fears. Confronting fears in a gradual and
manageable way helps give the person faith in their own ability to cope.
• A new strategy for coping can lead to more lasting changes to basic attitudes and ways of
behaving. The anxious client may learn to avoid avoiding things. He or she may also find that
anxiety is not as dangerous as they assumed.

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