Cognitive Behavior Therapy Overview

Cognitive Behavior Therapy Overview

Cognitive Behaviour therapy generally referred as CBT is an overall category of psychotherapy. The CBT is a psycho-social intercession that aims at enhancing the mental health of the relevant patient. Further, CBT concentrates on challenging and modifying the unessential cognitive distortion such as beliefs, thoughts and attitudes and behaviors thus promoting emotion regulation and the growth of individual coping mechanisms that aims at solving present issues of the presented patient. Initially, CBT was structured to treat depression but its importance within the healthcare arena has stretched to incorporate treatment of various mental health disorders like social anxieties relationships and sex concerns, eating disorder, mood swings, sleeping issues, drug use and alcoholism and anxiety attacks (Seyffert et al., 2016).

Additionally, the CBT incorporates various cognitive psychotherapies that treats specific psychopathologies employing evidence-based strategies. Correspondingly, CBT is centered on combination of the core principles from cognitive and behaviour psychology. Nevertheless, CBT various from the historical viewpoint to psychotherapy like the psychoanalytic method where medical specialists searches for unconscious definition behind a defined behaviour and then establishes a diagnosis. Instead, cognitive behaviour therapy is a problem-centered and action-based type of therapy thus it is employed to treat particular issues associated with a diagnosed mental illness. Therefore, the therapist’s responsibility incorporates assisting respective medical consumers in realizing and practicing efficient strategies to respond to the acknowledgement medical objective and minimize the symptoms of a particular mental disorder. Also, CBT is centered on the concept that maladaptive and though distortions attitudes plays a critical role in the initiation and sustenance of psychological illnesses and the various symptoms and linked distress may be minimized through teaching the affected populace new and critical information-processing competencies and coping strategies thus ensuring minimization of mental disorder symptoms and aversion of such symptoms before any mental disorder develops.

Also, cognitive therapy theory originates from Adler’s work who was the first medical specialist to address the cognitive psychotherapy thus influenced Albert Ellis research work who initiated the emotive behaviour therapy originally referred as the cognitive-based psychotherapy. Further, during that time, the cognitive therapy theory was established by Aaron T. Beck after acknowledging that thoughts were more conscious compared to Freud and that particular forms of thinking might be perpetrators of emotional agony thus named such thoughts automatic thoughts (Thoma, Pilecki & McKay, 2015). Therefore, Beck was henceforth recognized as the father of CBT. Also, the core assumptions of CBT is that maladaptive attitude and behaviors roots are irrational or biased strategy of thinking thus stressing in the internal thinking process as the origin of cognitive behaviors.

Inside the Therapy Session

If a particular patient is commended to undergo the CBT treatment, the patient is assigned to have one session with the relevant therapist once in one or two weeks. Also, the course of the therapy generally takes five to twenty sessions with every session consuming thirty to sixty minutes. During the therapy sessions, the relevant patient operates with the assigned therapist, breaking down the patient’s medical concerns into distinct sections like thoughts, actions and physical feelings. The respective patient and therapist analyses the defined sections to realize if the patient is unhelpful or unrealistic and acknowledge the impacts they possess on each other and on the patient in particular. After comprehensive analysis of the defined medical issues, the relevant therapist assesses the critical mechanisms to change the unessential patient behaviour and thoughts. Further, after the dissemination of change strategies to helpful thoughts and behaviours, the therapists requests the patient to practise the defined areas of change during the patient’s routine activities (Dobson & Dobson, 2018). Subsequently, during the next therapy session, the relevant therapist confirms the patient progress through enquiring how the patient executed the defined change mechanisms.

Correspondingly, the core objective of the therapist incorporates teaching the patient how to utilize the various skills learnt during the therapy sessions thus ensuring patient’s mental wellness. Also, the skills should aid the patient in problem management and aversion of negative behaviors and thoughts even after the completion of the cognitive behaviour therapy. Also, the patient- therapist rapport should be solid to permit sharing of critical patient health information and experiences. A positive patient-therapist rapport may be ensured through driving a shared conclusion-making, practicing solid communication skills and expressing comprehensive therapist empathy (Kazantzis, Dattilio & Dobson, 2017). Lastly, an effective patient-therapist relationship solidifies trust and reinforces the therapy session thus leading to productive patient outcomes.

Therapeutic Techniques

Therapists enhance their competencies to serve their various patient in optimal manner while employing multitude of strategies to reach each medical consumer as an individual. Some of the therapeutic strategies includes listening to the patient and offering professional advice and motivation. Nevertheless, some patients may require transformative process employing several tools that are distinctive and originates from other modalities thus reaching patient’s personalized medical demands. For instance, in solution-centered therapy, application of Miracle Questions is a core mechanism to aid the medical consumer comprehend their medical situation and solutions in a deeper extent. This technique may be employed across various forms of therapies and is also utilized in coaching. Correspondingly, the Miracle Questions are powerful mechanisms for patients to internalize what would happen if their desires were accomplished (Schröder et al., 2017). Also, the therapists may employ communication strategies such as summarizing, appropriate application of silence, reflection and acknowledgement alongside open-ended queries.

Correspondingly, the application of voice dialogue which is extracted from the concept of psychologists Sidra Stone and Hal. Based on the psychology theory of the selves, human beings function from a multitude of selves operation for or against humans in various instances. Additionally, the psychology concept includes inner critic, inner child and self-saboteur. Therefore, the utilization of voice dialogue permits the inner selves to possess a voice during the therapy session. Also, through acknowledgement that the inner selves exists and enabling them to have a core voice during the therapy, the patient may acquire a more controllable balance in obtaining an optimal way of dealing with situations. Additionally, the practice is a creative and effective introspective mechanism that may aid patients cope with self-constraining behaviours, thoughts and beliefs. Another therapeutic strategy is hunger illusion which is utilized across various positive psychotherapy. Notably, hunger illusion operates by acknowledgment of the time one wants to act promptly, aversion of action taking immediately following a triggering event and keeping track of beliefs, thoughts and feelings which stimulates action taking in the ‘do not’ behaviours. Hence, the technique is core in enabling patients be alert of unconscious stimulants for various behaviors through tuning into thoughts rather than actions.

Subsequently, the therapist may employ gestalt therapy strategy where an empty chair is set replacing the therapist presence and the patient may shares their medical conditions and distressing elements effectively (Seyffert et al., 2016). Further, gestalt therapy method concentrates on the entire patient incorporating their ecology, the individuals within the ecology and the thoughts round as a whole. Conversely, gestalt therapy technique opens up the patient’s capacity to speak to an issue in a secure and supported manner. Further, the strategy is core for individuals who are not verbalizing their medical conditions or life stressors due to persons in their ecology. Notably, the technique aims at unleashing patient’s inner feelings and thoughts on an imaginary individual sitting on an empty chair thus bringing the relevant patient into a current moment experience and permits medical clients acquire new mechanism to interact with personal issues.

Treatment Evaluation

The treatment process through CBT application may be evaluated through patient complexity factors, therapy outcomes and therapeutic competence. Therapeutic competence may be assessed employing the cognitive therapy scale-Revised generally referred as CTS-R which incorporates twelve items which analyse overall interpersonal and therapeutic capacities and cognitive behaviour therapy-particular skills ((Kazantzis, Dattilio & Dobson, 2017). Further, each item is graded amid zero (non-competent) to six (expert) thus yielding an aggregate CTS-R grade amid zero to seventy-two. The competent therapists are assumed to offer optimal treatment to their respective patients thus enhancing patient care and outcomes. Subsequently, the patient complexity is used to evaluate therapeutic performance where a binary ranking of medical client complexity during the therapy session may be employed to determine the therapy treatment productivity. The rating may be complex and non-complex. Additionally, the non-complex patient issues are projected to offer optimal patient outcomes compared to complex patient matters. Thirdly, the therapy aggregate performance is employed to determine the effectiveness of the CBT treatment. Also, the performance is graded from zero to a hundred founded on patient performance, patient complexity rating and therapeutic competency. Also, evidence-based predictors linked to the patient positive outcomes incorporates therapist competency, non-complex patient conditions or issues, positive patient-therapist rapport and availability of required therapeutic tools.

Application

Evidence-based psychotherapies are cost-efficient and efficacious for various mental disorders such as anxiety attacks. Further, psychiatric conditions are predominate globally and are linked to high rate of illness burdens and co-occurrence with health disorders thus, leading to intensified focus on evidence-based psychotherapies. Therefore, CBT may be employed in treatment of mental conditions like anxiety attacks through the application of evidence-based practice during therapeutic sessions through the use of informed clinical practice with appropriate research work. Additionally, therapists may utilized CBT interventions which are evidence-based thus enhancing patient outcomes and general therapy performance.