Cognitive Behavior Therapy free essay sample

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) addresses dysfunctional emotions, maladaptive behaviors, and cognitive processes. This is an effective treatment for patients who are dealing with anxiety and depression. CBT refers to a group of psychotherapies that incorporate techniques from cognitive therapy and behavior therapy. Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck are the two psychologists who came up with therapies. Beck developed the cognitive therapy (CT) that focuses on changing the client’s unrealistic maladaptive beliefs and thoughts in order to change the individual’s behavior and emotional state. To help CT is directive collaboration by help teach the client correct their distorted thinking and perception of self, other, and external events. Ellis came up with the Rational Emotive Therapy (RET), based on the assumption people are not disturbed by things but rather than their view of things. The key premise of RET is the people’s difficulties are caused by their faulty expectations and irrational beliefs. We will write a custom essay sample on Cognitive Behavior Therapy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The key assumptions of the cognitive therapies assume that the reason is due to illogical patterns of thinking. Hockenbury (2014) gives an example on cognitive therapy saying, â€Å"Most people blame their unhappiness and problems on external events or situations, but the real cause of unhappiness is the way the person thinks about the events, not the events themselves. (Ellis, 1991; Ellis Ellis, 2011)(P 592-593). Ellis theory of cognitive behavior, psychological problems are explained by the â€Å"ABC† model of the Activating event (A) occurs, the person’s Beliefs (B) about the event, and emotional Consequences (C). Cognitive- Behavioral therapy can be used in any situation in which there is a pattern of unwanted behavior accompanied by stress and impairment. Many people are recommended treatment option to help change the individuals cognitive patters in order to change his or her behavior and emotional state. CBT target both thoughts and behaviors in therapy. Interventions, Techniques, and/or Exercises For CBT, there are many interventions, techniques, and exercises to help patients uncover and examine their thoughts and also change their behaviors. People with cognitive –behavioral therapy can go see a therapist to receive help. One test is called Validity testing. It is a test the patients are asked to take to test the validity of the automatic thoughts and schemas they encounter. The therapist may then ask the patient to defend or produce evidence to back up that schema. Many therapists also assign their patients to complete different homework assignments. These assignments many consist of real life behavioral experiments where the patient needs to practice responding to different situations in the way discussed in their therapy sessions. Patients should also keep a journal or diary when he or she has any thoughts, feeling, or any type of emotion that arise in specific situations. This journal will help the patients be awake of their maladaptive thoughts. As the patient is towards the later stages of therapy, the journal can be a reminder of positive behaviors and a sign of progress when looking back on reading old journal entries. There are different exercises the therapists can practice with their patients. There is one activity called cognitive rehearsal. The patient is told imagine a difficult situation and the therapist will guide the patient step by step of the process how to face the situation successfully in their head mentally. By doing this exercise, when a situation appears in real life, similar to the one the patient thought of in therapy he or she will remember the correct behavior and how to respond. Similar to this activity is modeling. The therapist and patient will participate in role-playing exercises relating to different scenarios the patient will see in the real world. CBT focuses on the immediate present and specific problems: what and how a person thinks more than why a person thinks that way. Like/ Find effective Goldberg (2012) says, â€Å"The goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to help a person learn to recognize negative patterns of thought evaluate their validity and replace them with healthier ways of thinking. † I like cognitive-behavioral therapy because treatment can be administered starting at the young age of children and will continue on even till the client is elderly (Dautovich Gunn, 2011; Kazdin, 2004; Weisz Kazdin, 2010) (p 597). Also, I like it because many studies have shown that CBT treatment is very effective for many disorders such as depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, as well as anxiety disorders (Sheldon 2011). The treatment is very clear because it is based on the patient’s experience, it encourages practice and compliance, and the patients have a sense of control. Not only are the sessions collaborative, it empowers the patient by giving him an active role in the process. The treatment is relatively short too compared to other psychotherapy programs (Goldberg 2012). CBT is goal oriented too. Patients working with their therapists are asked to define goals for each session as well as long -term goals. Anyone with a mild or moderate depression can benefit from CBT. Do not like/ Do not find effective I do not like that people can take antidepressants and CBT can be effective in treating major depression. I believe with the help of a therapist, there is no need to put any medication in the body. There are so many application of CBT such as bipolar disorder, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, emotional disorders, eating problems, marital issues, and behavioral medicine that more people are going to need treatment. I think seeing a therapist may be very helpful but others may dislike CBT because they have to talk about their emotions. CBT also focuses on positive thinking which may feel too superficial to the patient. Other people find they do not like the way CBT downplays emotions while overemphasizing the logical components of one’s mental health. Sometimes people do not get the result they desired with CBT in the short amount of time. After the patient is done with the program and no longer has to attend therapy, there is a good possibility can have a relapse who will then need further help. Interaction with cultures This theory, Cognitive Behavioral theory interacts with different cultures other than the dominant (Euro- American) culture. In the report by Voss Horrell (2008) found 12 studies that evaluated the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral interventions with adults from African-American, Asian American, or Hispanic/Latino ethnic minority groups. These studies examined the effectiveness of CBT in the treatment of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, and substance abuse among ethnic minority individuals. Three of those studies have reported good results for the application of CBT with Hispanic/ Latino women. Voss Horrell, (2008) stated CBT is an effective intervention for Hispanic/Latino women, but there is limited information on its effectiveness with Hispanic/Latino men. CBT can teach Hispanic/ Latino clients to manage environmental factors that cause their emotional distress. Within the past two decades there has been significant advances in the treatment of a number of mental health difficulties common in children and adolescents such as anxiety, conduct problems, and depression. There are currently a number of Evidence- Based Practices (EBP) that have been evaluated in random controlled trials. The majority of research on effective treatment for mental health difficulties in youth pointed to CBT as the most effective. De Arellano (2005) wrote, â€Å"Unfortunately with all the published studies, evidence of the utility of these interventions for Latino youth (both immigrant and native born) is very limited. † There are still many questions that are not answered for the Latino clients. Many people have there own personal preference as to which kind of treatment they would want to receive. There are cases in which culturally based adaptations are not supported firsthand. Also in studies it documents that the original treatment can lead to equally beneficial outcomes for minority and nonminority clients. Many people of color indicate a preference for treatments that include cultural adaptations as a component. Over 80% of African- American women stated a preference for culturally modified CBT even though the outcome results demonstrated that there were no significant differences between the modified and standard treatments. It appears that treatment may be more acceptable to minority clients. When working with a client of any background, any steps to make treatment more comfortable should be encouraged. In the future If I had more time to peruse this theory of Cognitive Behavior Theory in the future, I would want to research more on different cultures and what they believe the best therapy worked best for them. I am curious to see how many people around the world have received treatment for CBT and if it worked. I would want to read about people from other cultures and their experiences as they went through therapy. Also, if I had more time would want to research CBT and compare and contrast with other therapies such as Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy because they have similarities. I think it would be really interesting to read about all the different techniques each theory does for treatment.