Compare and contrast the following forms of psychotherapy

Compare and contrast the following forms of psychotherapy

Compare and contrast the following forms of psychotherapy: cognitive, humanistic, and behavioral. Identify the focus of each approach as well as areas of agreement and difference.

Cognitive, humanistic, and behavioral therapies are forms of psychotherapy that are often complex. It is, therefore, essential to compare and contrast their nature to understand the various processes of change, therapeutic interventions, and theoretical rationale. Cognitive, humanistic, and behavioral forms of psychotherapy each aim to assist patients in overcoming adverse behaviors, emotions, and thoughts via various sections of focus.

Behavioral psychotherapy is grounded on the supposition that actions come from fundamental principles of learning, according to the text. Therefore, behavioral psychotherapy emphasizes the responsibility of learning in emphasizing or discouraging particular actions. It will use different behavior evaluation methods to realize the environmental causes of the patient’s problems and devise therapeutic procedures aimed at reshaping behavior.

In contrast, cognitive psychotherapy is grounded on the theoretical rationale that individuals feel is determined by what they think. The therapies work off the assumption that thoughts are identifiable and measurable, that they are the vital players in the psychological functioning, and that irrational beliefs can be replaced.  For instance, depressions are known to appear as a consequence of faulty thoughts and erroneous beliefs. It, therefore, identifies irrational thinking as the source behind dysfunctional behaviors and emotions and aims to change the patient’s thinking in psychotherapy positively. Unlike behavioral psychotherapist, a cognitive psychotherapist will address the internal issues within a person’s mind and thought processes instead of trying to change their behavior externally. By shaping the thoughts of a patient, cognitive psychotherapists aim at altering how they feel and what they do.

While behavioral and cognitive psychotherapy focuses on the defects in a person’s actions or thought, humanistic therapy is an approach emphasizing human instinct to struggle for individual development. It emphasizes that human nature is fundamentally positive, self-actualization, and insight.  A therapist will focus on assisting the patient better understand themselves to make decisions essential to growing their maximum potential. Like behavioral psychotherapy, humanistic psychotherapy emphasizes the freedom of choice to develop behaviors aimed at individual development. Humanistic psychotherapy is also the same as cognitive psychotherapy in that it focuses on raising self-awareness to achieve self-improvement. Humanistic psychotherapy, unlike behavioral or cognitive psychotherapy, focuses on insight, expanded self-awareness, and knowledge rather than shaping behavior or thoughts; the therapist’s primary responsibility is to assist their patients in identifying their path to fulfillment instead of telling them how to think or act.

In conclusion, Psychotherapists currently apply a combination of humanistic, cognitive, and behavioral approaches. The society is moving away from rigid therapeutic structures of fixing a broken person and increasingly advocating for self-awareness and self-healing to enhance the quality of life. Acknowledging the unique nature of the life of every human mind has made a fundamental variation in the means with which people look for meaning and better their lives. Among the famous behavioral therapists are Thorndike and Ivan Pavlov for developing operant conditioning and classical conditioning, respectively. Classical conditioning is a passive means of behavioral therapy, depending on associative learning to generate conditioned reactions in response to a stimulus. Operant conditioning, on the other hand, actively shapes behavior using reinforcements and punishment.