Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
It is a talking therapy that focuses on changing dysfunctional thoughts and reframing them with more functional ones. According to this therapy, our thoughts generate feelings that lead to further behavior. It is a short-term therapy that has a problem-solving approach. In this therapy, the sessions are structured that involve a strong alliance of both clinician and client.
It is a directive and action-acquired approach. It allows a person to explore, recognize, and examined those thoughts that are distorted. Once the client identifies the thoughts therapist instructs the person to restructure with the productive ones.
Foundation of CBT
The foundation of CBT is the notion that how we perceive events can influence how we feel and act. a person might feel bad emotions, for instance, if you perceive a situation negatively. And those negative emotions could influence how you act.
To help you deal with these thoughts and behaviors, CBT combines two types of therapy: cognitive therapy, which looks at the things you think, and behavior therapy, which looks at the things you do.
CBT is founded on a number of fundamental ideas, such as:
Part of psychological issues stems from flawed or harmful ways of thinking.
A portion of psychological issues can be attributed to learned undesirable behavioral patterns.
People with psychological issues can develop stronger coping mechanisms, which will help them manage their symptoms and improve their effectiveness.
History of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
It was originally pioneered by Aron Beck in the 1960s. He was working as a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania. Every other researcher back in this era was testing out the fundamental principle of psychoanalytic theory, Beck was also administering psychoanalysis. He tried to make psychoanalysis work for depressed people and for executing that he was conducting several experiments too. He was hoping that to work but remain surprised when different results came out. While working with depression clients he observed that there is a stream of negative thoughts that tend to pop up unconsciously. He called these thoughts “the automatic thoughts”.
As he came up with the realization of automatic thoughts, he helped his patients to recognize and evaluate the negative thoughts. He observed that this technique of recognition of dysfunctional thoughts creates a more realistic form of thinking in patients. As a result of which the emotions are stable so the feelings and behaviors were also functional. This therapy works on the negative underlying belief system about oneself, others, and the world, changing the underlying belief system leads to a long-lasting result. Because this therapy works on thoughts so Beck named this therapy cognitive therapy which is now also known as cognitive behavioral therapy.
Effectiveness of Therapy
It has been discovered that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is useful for a variety of issues, including:
Depression
Anxiety disorders
Difficulties with alcohol and other drugs
Marital issues
Eating disorders
Anger problems
Bipolar disorder
Obsessive compulsory disorder
Self-injurious behavior
Post-partum depression
Stress, and serious mental disease.
Numerous studies have found that CBT significantly enhances efficiency and life satisfaction. It has been seen in many studies that CBT is equally successful or even more fruitful than the other types of psychological therapy or psychiatric medications.
It is critical to stress that improvements in CBT have been based on both clinical and research-based work. In fact, there is a lot of scientific evidence supporting CBT, demonstrating that the techniques used truly result in change. CBT is distinct from many other types of psychiatric therapy in this way.
According to this theory, automatic thoughts made underlying rules, beliefs, and assumption that eventually comes into core beliefs.
The C in CBT
The focus of CT is on methods that can be used to help people identify, assess, and change their internal thoughts, particularly those that are connected to emotional disorders like melancholy, anxiety, and rage.
The B in CBT
Is behavioral activation includes several techniques such as keeping track of daily activities, evaluation of pleasure and mastery, cognitive practice and problem-solving, and social skills including assertiveness and effective communication. Behavior exhibits the way we feel. When a depressed person tracks down his feeling, he might notice that he is being passive, unable to feel happy, and less active. So as an initial step to treat depression is to increase pleasurable activities that give a sense of accomplishment. It will not only change the behavior but also improves the mood too.
CBT and Sessions
It would typically meet with a therapist once per week or every two weeks. The typical length of the therapy program is six to twenty sessions, each lasting between thirty and sixty minutes.
The client will collaborate with his therapist during the sessions to dissect his issues into their component elements, such as thoughts, bodily sensations, and behaviors. These areas will be examined by the client and therapist to determine whether they are unrealistic or harmful and to ascertain the impact they have on one another and on the client. Then, the therapist will be able to assist in figuring out how to alter these negative ideas and behaviors.
The therapist will instruct you to practice making these adjustments in daily life after determining what you can alter, and you will talk about how it went during your subsequent session
The ultimate goal of therapy is to help a person to understand how to use the abilities that have acquired during treatment in his everyday life.
Advantages of CBT
As every problem cannot be fixed with a single solution same like that, cognitive behavioral therapy cannot be effective in all mental health problems. it might effective for one person and not suit the next one but here are some advantages of CBT are
- It is a short-term therapy that can be completed and relatively short than other therapies.
- Due to CBT’s highly structured nature, it can be delivered in a variety of settings, including groups, self-help books, and online.
- CBT emphasizes the patient’s capacity to change themselves (their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) and can be as effective as medication in treating some mental health issues.
It may also be helpful in situations where medication alone is ineffective.
Disadvantages.
- To benefit the most from the process, you must fully commit to it. A therapist can support and counsel you, but they depend on your cooperation. But in some circumstances, the client doesn’t make it easy for a therapist to be open and discussed everything. Decisiveness can occur at any point in therapy.
It can take a lot of time to attend regular CBT sessions and complete any additional work between sessions.
- For those with more severe mental health issues or learning impairments, it might not be appropriate.
- It entails facing your feelings and worries. There may be initial times when you feel apprehensive or uneasy emotionally.
- It does not deal with the wider problem in the system or families that may have a big negative impact on someone’s health and well-being.
Some critics claim that while CBT concentrates on specific problems and tackles present difficulties, it ignores potential underlying causes of mental health illnesses, such as an unhealthy upbringing.
