Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) Beck’s Cognitive Therapy (CT) Meichenbaum’s Cognitive Behavior Modification (CBM)

2. From Behavior Theory Comes… • Albert Ellis’ REBT • Aaron T. Beck’s CT • Donald Meichenbaum’s CBT • These are the more prominent cognitive behavioral approaches, however, there are over 20 therapies that are considered “cognitive” or “cognitive behavioral”

3. History of REBT • Developed by Albert Ellis (1955) • Incorporated cognition, emotion, and behavior into techniques • Maintains that cognition governs emotions, feelings (i.e., “We feel what we think”) • Considered “active-directive” therapeutic process that focuses on client empowerment and education • Goal is to get clients to feel and think more positively, thus attaining their personal goals

4. History of CT • Developed by Aaron Beck • Clients misinterpret certain life situations, which leads to cognitive distortions or “logical errors” • Logical errors lead to emotional difficulties by distorting reality to validate previously held negative beliefs

5. History of CBM • Developed by Donald Meichenbaum • Focus on changing client’s self-verbalizations • In order to change, clients must listen to their “self-speak” and notice how they think, feel, and behave

6. Basic Principles

7. Role of Therapist

8. Therapeutic Process

9. Significant Contributions

10. Limitations of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy • Cultural considerations • Theory is Eurocentric in that it relies heavily on “logic” as defined by Western principles • If a client comes from a culture that does not encourage direct confrontation • If a client’s culture focuses on “being” rather than “thinking” • ???