About cognitive behavioral therapy

Albert Ellis Image via Wikipedia

Cognitive therapy has played a very important role in helping  me cope with depression and chronic pain in the past I've  learned to incorporate its principles into my everyday life.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is a type of psychotherapy which  focuses on the impact of thinking on how we feel and what we  do.  The major concept that Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is  based on is on the theory that changing negative thinking  patterns and behaviors can have a potent effect on a person's  emotions the goal of
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is to identify  analyze and  change counterproductive thinking and behavior. over the long term reducing the effects of stress,  Depression, anxiety and even pain.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or CBT is an umbrella term for  several different approaches to CBT.  The different types of  approaches include:                                                                   

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

Cognitive Therapy                                                                                                      
                                                                                          Aaron T. Beck image via beckinstitute.org
Rational Behavior Therapy

Rational Living Therapy

Schema Focused Therapy

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Albert Ellis who is widely recognized as the grandfather of  cognitive psychology was one of the first people to present  the idea that irrational beliefs are at the center of most  psychological problems.  He created a therapeutic approach  called rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT)

What is REBT?

this is a quotation from Albert Ellis Institute website

http://www.albertellisinstitute.org/aei/rebt_how_it_work_main. html

"REBT is a practical, action-oriented approach to coping with  problems and enhancing personal growth. REBT places a good  deal of its focus on the present: on currently-held attitudes,  painful emotions and maladaptive behaviors that can sabotage a  fuller experience of life. REBT also provides people with an  individualized set of proven techniques for helping them to  solve problems. REBT practitioners work closely with  individuals, seeking to help uncover their individual set of  beliefs (attitudes, expectations and personal rules) that  frequently lead to emotional distress. "

Aaron T. Beck who was originally trained as a psychoanalyst is  known as the father of cognitive psychology.  He  created  cognitive therapy in  the 1960s  his motivation for creating  cognitive therapy was that he became disillusioned with  psychoanalytic techniques. Psychoanalytic therapies are based  on treating the underlying unconscious drives and emotions.  Beck believed that focusing on cognition was the most  effective way to treat patients.  Cognition is the way in  which people perceive an attribute meaning to  events in their  lives. Beck thought that conditions such as depression were  caused and/or exacerbated by negative perceptions of events.  He put together a list of cognitive errors that he felt  contributed to depression these errors in thought  could have  the effect of making depression much worse. Some examples of  these errors are:

selective abstraction

over-generalization

magnification of negative thoughts and minimization of  positive thoughts

Cognitive therapy's goal is to identify and replace negative  thought patterns. It seeks to modify ways of thinking which  are unrealistic and distorted. An ultimately change feelings  and behaviors.

Aaron T. Beck initially focused on depression.  He outlined  his methodology for the causes and treatment of depression in  1967.  He then broadened the scope of his focus to anxiety  disorders. He further expanded the approach to treat emotional  disorders and other problems as time went on.

Beck also talked about the notion of the schema which is the  underlying way in which people process information. People's  schemas affect the way we view ourselves, the outside world  and future events.

The cognitive view of psychology conflicted with behaviorism  which was one of the dominant psychological theories of the  time.  Behaviorists said that mental processes were not  scientifically valid or meaningful.  Behaviorists were solely  focused on the stimulus and response paradigm But in the 1970s  there was a revolution that saw cognitive psychology and its  ideas gain prominence. Eventually behavior modification  techniques and cognitive therapy became combined into  cognitive behavior therapy. Although there are some cognitive  therapists who seek to keep cognitive therapy as a stand-alone  form of therapeutic practice.

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy's main goal is to teach the  client effective ways of dealing with their psychological  and/or physical condition the CBT therapist seeks to give the  client techniques and strategies that can be used to  effectively adapt to situations

In the near future I will write an article about how I  personally used cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to  cope with my chronic pain.

Comments

[Ann Jorn]

Dear Ruby, I am a Rational Emotive Behavior Therapist trained by Albert Ellis. I also have a disability, rheumatoid arthritis since age 3. I specialize in helping people with chronic pain. I really would encourage you to pursue a career in psychology. I am a counseling psychologist. We are the only psychologists trained in career development. This has been very helpful to my patients who are disabled to help them redesign their lives. I am unabashedly pushing becoming a counseling psychologist. It also is a discipline that does not over use jargon. Clinical psychology does tend to do that, in my opinion. If you would like to talk more about my experience. I would happy to communicate further with you if you would like any insight to going into psychology.