Counselling: Compare and Contrast CBT and Narrative Therapy

Counselling: Compare and Contrast CBT and Narrative Therapy

Introduction

This essay is based on the comparison of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Narrative Therapy. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is used based on the idea of cognition, developed from approaches such as cognitive therapy of A. Beck, and rational emotive therapy of Albert Ellis. CBT is primarily based of the ideology that feelings or behaviour of any person might be influenced by their thoughts alone, and are not influenced by external factors, which might include situations or events taking place in the surrounding (Wright et.al, 2006). It usually refers to cognitive therapy as the application of cognitive psychology, to maintain a focused psychological conception of mental processes (such as thinking, memory and attention) and from an intra-psychic perspective (understanding that there is something inside the mind comparable from person to person).

On the other hand, Narrative Therapy presents an innovative way to understand the therapeutic task and the problems of people. One feature that distinguishes this therapy is the way in which we talk about the problems. These are not seen as symptoms or manifestations of a deficiency of the patient. Rather, this therapy considers problems as separate from the patient, something external to it, but it affects their lives. Thus, this perspective becomes an innovative way to provide treatment to patients (Chellingsworth, 2011). Therapies Narratives are distinguished from other therapeutic approaches in how they look at the speech of the people (their narrative). While, other approaches see the speech of the people as a means to reach the relevant psychological phenomena. Narrative Therapies see this discourse as the very important psychological phenomenon that developed after the 1970's, from the works of M. White, Australia, and D. Epston, of New Zealand.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

The CBT is a psychological therapy. During the treatment process, the patient is looking for relaxing the ascription of meanings and interpretations that are more functional and adaptive. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has made numerous contributions to the field of family therapy, and only an extensive review can reveal all of its contributions. The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy model contributes to the field of family therapy in an expansive manner. It addresses previously ignored issues of establishing therapeutic techniques on the basis of prior research in the field. Besides that, this approach is significantly different from the previous therapeutic approaches, instead of stigmatizing the individual with an incurable diagnosis, the approach proposes that a great deal of the problem can be resolved by modifying the person's behaviour towards it and therefore, aims to do just that (Boyes, 2012).

The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy addresses the need for change at several levels, thereby constituting an entire process. The approach is integrative in nature as it combines cognitive psychology and behaviour therapy to form this newly found technique. It focuses on various internal processes such as affects, thoughts, images, expectations, etc. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy focuses on the present instead of the past and has been observed for its effectiveness on various ...