COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Mental health issues and its achievements have always been the essence of practical psychology. In a series of advisory disciplines devoted to psychological care, special place is occupied by a complex of psychotherapeutic systems. And today the formation of professional identity of psychologist requires mastering the basics of psychotherapeutic knowledge. (Robertson 2010, 45-56)

Cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy (cognitive-behavioural therapy or, CBT) are a group of treatment of mental disorders (phobias, addiction, psychosis, depression, anxiety) who share an approach in which the therapy must be based on knowledge derived of scientific psychology and obey protocols relatively standardized whose validity is said to be based on evidence. (Kalsy 2001, 141-146)

In the history of clinical psychology, said the current behavioural (focusing first to intervene in the behaviour) and cognitive (seeking to intervene in the psyche) appeared together in the middle of the twentieth century, sometimes in competition with one with the other cons approach psychoanalytical which focuses on internal processes unconscious by seeking experienced elders. Since the 1980s, this historic divide between behaviourism and cognitivism tends to disappear in medical practice. (Garfield 2004, 3-15)



The emergence of cognitive therapy

Parallel between the 50 and 60, new therapeutic approaches are emerging. Indeed, despite some success in treating neuroses, other disorders including depression are more resistant to therapies inspired behaviourist. The proposed alternatives, including the U.S. (David 2006, 568-578) Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, stand by their use of concepts previously considered too "mentalist" such as belief or emotion - Beck will be the source of a questionnaire measuring depression still used today, the Beck Depression Inventory. Despite the scientific excitement about the cognitive revolution, the foundations of clinical research approaches reflect more of a "third way" between behaviourism and psychoanalysis that new paradigms of cognitive psychology laboratory. (Olsen 1998, 437-442)

The third wave of CBT

Currently, the field of cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy is still very active. New models continue to emerge as the therapy of Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) by Steven C. Hayes designed to restore flexibility psychological patients or therapies Mindfulness, inspired practices meditation, which are used for the management of stress and depressive relapses cons.

Some authors have proposed to describe these new therapies as constituting a "third wave" CBT, wave after wave of cognitive and behavioural (and cognitive-behavioural): the third wave is characterized by acceptance rather that avoidance of painful thoughts and use of meditative techniques. (Rachman 1997, 1-26)

Therapeutic Principles

For anxiety disorders, behavioural therapy works through scenarios and exposure to situations causing graded anxiety. For example, in the case of spider phobia, the patient must first imagine a spider, then observe pictures of spiders, touch a jar where there is a spider, and finally touch the spider. At the same time, he learns to control the physiological manifestations of fear.

Cognitive therapy works on the mind of the patient with a cognitive distortion (e.g., excessive fear of being contaminated by a disease can be combated with information about the disease in question and the assessment of actual ...