Cognitive Behavior Therapy

1. Cognitive Behavior Therapy Dr. Arra PSY 201

2. Cognitive Behavior Therapy The type of Cognitive Behavior therapy to be discussed: • Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy

3. Cognitive Behavior Therapy BECK’S COGNITIVE THERAPY BASIC PRINCIPLES/THEORY • Active • Directive • Time-limited • Present-centered • Recognize and change negative thoughts and maladaptive beliefs

4. Cognitive Behavior Therapy • Based on the rationale that the way people feel and behave is determined by how they perceive and structure their experience • People’s internal communication is accessible to introspection • People’s beliefs have highly personal meanings

5. Cognitive Behavior Therapy • These meanings of one’s personal beliefs can be discovered by the client • To understand the nature of an upsetting emotional event, you must focus on the cognitive content of the person’s reaction • Goal of therapy is to change the way a client thinks by using their automatic thoughts (notions that are triggered by particular stimuli that elicit emotional responses) to get a their core schemes

6. Cognitive Behavior Therapy • Clients gather and weigh the evidence in support of their beliefs • Beck believes that people have biases in their thinking that lead to psychopathology • People with emotional difficulties commit logical errors that tilt objective reality into the direction of negative self-evaluations • The best way to change dysfunctional emotions and behaviors is to modify inaccurate and dysfunctional thinking

7. Cognitive Behavior Therapy COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS: faulty assumptions and misconceptions • Arbitrary inferences: making conclusions without supporting evidence • Selective Abstraction: forming conclusions based on an isolated detail or event • Overgeneralization: generalizing beliefs based on a single incident

8. Cognitive Behavior Therapy COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS • Magnification or minimization: perceiving a situation in a greater or lesser light than it deserves • Personalization: tendency to relate external events to yourself • Labeling and mislabeling: portraying your identity based on imperfections and mistakes made in the past, and allowing them to define your true identity

9. Cognitive Behavior Therapy COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS • Polarized thinking: thinking in all or nothing, black or white extremes

10. Cognitive Behavior Therapy THERAPIST ROLE AND FUNCTION • Emphasis on therapeutic relationship • Genuine • Warm • Empathetic • Accepting • Creative

11. Cognitive Behavior Therapy THERAPIST ROLE AND FUNCTION • Active • Knowledgeable of cognitive and behavioral strategies • Guide • Help client understand how their beliefs and attitudes influence the way they feel and act • Promote cognitive change • Assist client in acquiring new skills

12. Cognitive Behavior Therapy THERAPIST ROLE AND FUNCTION • Clients bring up topics to explore • Identify distortions in their thinking • Devise homework assignments • Teach client how to be their own therapist

13. Cognitive Behavior Therapy CLIENT ROLE AND FUNCTION • Active • Participate • Do homework • Complete outside readings • Bring up topics to explore

14. Cognitive Behavior Therapy CLIENT ROLE AND FUNCTION • Identify distortions in their thinking • Summarize important points in the session

15. Cognitive Behavior Therapy APPLICATIONS • Used to treat depression and anxiety disorders, as well as other disorders • Therapist assists individuals in making alternate interpretations of daily events • Therapist has client become aware of distortions in your thinking patterns by examining your automatic thoughts

16. Cognitive Behavior Therapy • Therapist has you look at faulty inferences and trace them to earlier experiences • Therapist helps you to see how you sometimes come to a negative conclusion when evidence for such a conclusion is lacking • Cognitive distortions are taught

17. Cognitive Behavior Therapy • Therapist assists client in learning how you disregard important aspects of situation • Assess rigid or simplified thinking • Overgeneralization from a single incident of failure • Challenging • Cognitive Reframing/Restructuring