COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy



Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy comprises both behavioral and cognitive procedures. The consideration under a cognitive behavioral orientation is that complexity in living, universal health, relationships, etc., have their ancestry in (and are maintained by) both behavioral as well as cognitive factors.

Even though the term itself became popular, just what "cognitive behavioral therapy" involved was far less understood. Meanwhile, in study after study, cognitive behavioral therapy started to prove to be a reliable therapy of choice for various mental health care problems, including the anxiety and depression disorders. In fact, large scale and long range studies over the past decade have always shown cognitive behavioral therapy to be the only available therapy that can be dependably relied upon to help others overcome their clinical anxiety disorders (Wills & Diana, 1998; Pinker, 1997).

While this was good news for cognitive behavioral therapy, some rather large and complex questions continued to cloud the concept. For example, almost each study defined cognitive behavioral therapy in a different method, and many studies were rather unclear in their explanation of just what cognitive behavioral therapy was considered to be.

The cognitive theories of cognitive behavioral therapy aim to define the problematic and irrational thinking styles that normally accompany psychological problems. These strategies are based on the proved results that one's feelings are a direct expansion of one's thoughts. Simple to learn and use cognitive strategies provide people with powerful and practical skills that can be applied throughout the life as efficient tools in life management. Cognitive strategies have been proved to be especially useful in the treatment of depression and anxiety problems.

The cognitive part of the therapy refers to learning or thinking and is the part of therapy that can be easily taught to the person. You are taught some new skills and information, and then you learn them and you have to utilize these skills. When you learn these skill quite will (by repetition), this greatly affects your memory processes and allows you to begin acting, thinking, and feeling totally different. (Beck, 1995) Among the behavioral strategies employed are training in both relaxation and assertiveness, and steady desensitization to feared people or objects. Behavioral interventions have been proved to be successful in the treatment of a wide range of particular problems including sexual attraction for same sex, repetitive habits (nail-biting, hand- wringing, etc.), phobias, and bed-wetting, as well as many non-specific complaints such as depression and anxiety problems (Wills & Diana, 1998; Pinker, 1997).

Cognitive therapy also involves empowering people by helping them discover their ability and too make their own choices. So for A.W., cognitive therapy is very useful, right now she is afraid of expressing her views that she is attracted toward female rather than male, with the help of cognitive therapy she will be able to express her feelings in front of her parents, or if she want to be attracted toward male, she can control and change her feelings through cognitive and behavioral ...