A Primer on Cognitive Behavioral Treatment
Steve Amoia
September 26, 2008
During the last 15 to 20 years, we have been exposed to significant media exposure to promote the latest psychiatric drugs. Stigmatic illnesses such as depression and anxiety disorders have been removed from their dark closets. For some, these new drugs have enhanced their quality of life. But are pills, along with their significant side effect profiles, the only answer for these serious conditions?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Another solution that has received far less media scrutiny is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Or "CBT." This is a form of therapy that focuses on distortions in the way that we perceive our environment. In essence, how you think is how you feel. The goal of CBT is to teach us how to remove maladaptive, or negative thoughts, with those that are more constructive. This branch of psychotherapy was developed by Dr. Aaron T. Beck at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Beck was also the creator of the widely respected and implemented "Beck Depression Inventory" (BDI), which is used to measure a patient´s level of depressive symptoms.
Cognitive Distortions
The basis of CBT is to recognize that our thoughts, or cognitions, become distorted. Which produce changes in mood and behavior, along with how we view ourselves and our daily world. Instead of relying solely upon a pill to treat highly promoted but unproven chemical imbalance theories, the patient is taught how to recognize and retrain their thought processes.
"Cognitive Therapy is a form of psychotherapy proven in numerous clinical trials to be effective for a wide variety of disorders. The therapist and client work together as a team to identify and solve problems. Therapists help clients to overcome their difficulties by changing their thinking, behavior, and emotional responses... Dr. Beck and his colleagues worldwide have researched the efficacy of this form of psychotherapy in treating a wide variety of disorders including depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, drug abuse, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and many medical conditions with psychological components. Some of his most recent work has focused on cognitive therapy for schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder and for patients who are repeat suicide attempters."
Source: The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research.
There are ten frequent cognitive distortions:
1. All-Or-Nothing Thinking: Either you are the best or the worst.
2. Overgeneralization: If something happens to you once, you assume it will occur again.
3. Mental Filter: If one bad thing occurs, you focus on that to the exclusion of everything else.
4. Disqualifying The Positive: If you have a good experience, you compare or discount it to other negative ones.
5. Jumping To Conclusions: You try to read minds and make assumptions about a situation, or attempt to anticipate the outcome of a future event.
6. Catastrophizing Or Minimizing: For example, when a Cessna flies over Washington, D.C. airspace, the response does not correspond to the actual threat.
7. Emotional Reasoning: You think that your world view is an accurate vision without taking into account objective criteria.
8. Shoulding: You try to rationalize behavior that has already occurred.
9. Labeling: You place a permanent tag on a one-time event.
10. Personalization: You blame yourself for something beyond your own direct control.
References and Suggested Further Reading
Dr. Aaron T. Beck: The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research.
"Feeling Good," by Dr. David Burns.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Another solution that has received far less media scrutiny is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Or "CBT." This is a form of therapy that focuses on distortions in the way that we perceive our environment. In essence, how you think is how you feel. The goal of CBT is to teach us how to remove maladaptive, or negative thoughts, with those that are more constructive. This branch of psychotherapy was developed by Dr. Aaron T. Beck at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Beck was also the creator of the widely respected and implemented "Beck Depression Inventory" (BDI), which is used to measure a patient´s level of depressive symptoms.
Cognitive Distortions
The basis of CBT is to recognize that our thoughts, or cognitions, become distorted. Which produce changes in mood and behavior, along with how we view ourselves and our daily world. Instead of relying solely upon a pill to treat highly promoted but unproven chemical imbalance theories, the patient is taught how to recognize and retrain their thought processes.
"Cognitive Therapy is a form of psychotherapy proven in numerous clinical trials to be effective for a wide variety of disorders. The therapist and client work together as a team to identify and solve problems. Therapists help clients to overcome their difficulties by changing their thinking, behavior, and emotional responses... Dr. Beck and his colleagues worldwide have researched the efficacy of this form of psychotherapy in treating a wide variety of disorders including depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, drug abuse, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and many medical conditions with psychological components. Some of his most recent work has focused on cognitive therapy for schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder and for patients who are repeat suicide attempters."
Source: The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research.
There are ten frequent cognitive distortions:
1. All-Or-Nothing Thinking: Either you are the best or the worst.
2. Overgeneralization: If something happens to you once, you assume it will occur again.
3. Mental Filter: If one bad thing occurs, you focus on that to the exclusion of everything else.
4. Disqualifying The Positive: If you have a good experience, you compare or discount it to other negative ones.
5. Jumping To Conclusions: You try to read minds and make assumptions about a situation, or attempt to anticipate the outcome of a future event.
6. Catastrophizing Or Minimizing: For example, when a Cessna flies over Washington, D.C. airspace, the response does not correspond to the actual threat.
7. Emotional Reasoning: You think that your world view is an accurate vision without taking into account objective criteria.
8. Shoulding: You try to rationalize behavior that has already occurred.
9. Labeling: You place a permanent tag on a one-time event.
10. Personalization: You blame yourself for something beyond your own direct control.
References and Suggested Further Reading
Dr. Aaron T. Beck: The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research.
"Feeling Good," by Dr. David Burns.
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