Cognitive Behavior Therapy

By: Missy Maiorano

SPED 835

Fall 2001

It’s All About The Thoughts and ExperiencesA man with multiple sclerosis, who believes that

his ability to make a useful contribution to life is finished, is likely to experience depressed mood and avoidance of previously enjoyed activities. But, a different man with the same condition, who acknowledges that his life will have to change, but who believes that he will be able to discover new ways to make a contribution, is likely to make a better psychological adjustment to his illness.

What Is Cognitive Behavior Therapy?

Cognitive Behavior Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on changing a person’s dysfunctional thoughts, emotions, or behaviors.

CBT is a focused, structured, collaborative, and usually short-term therapy that aims to facilitate problem solving and to modify dysfunctional thinking and behavior.

Cognitive VS Behavior Therapy Cognitive therapy

teaches you how certain thought patterns are triggering your feelings, behaviors and symptoms.

Behavior therapy helps you break the chains between difficult situations and your traditional reactions to them.

Relationships In order for Cognitive

Behavioral Therapy to be effective, patients and therapists must establish collaborative relationships that connect themselves to the philosophy and central tenets of CBT.

Stages of CBT Stage one focuses on self-monitoring and

accompanying thoughts or feelings. Stage two examines thoughts, beliefs, and

values as well as feelings and introducing cognitive restructuring and implementing specific techniques such as exposure and response prevention.

Stage three focuses on discussing termination and maintenance of improvement.

Who Benefits From CBT? Patients who are able to

identify and differentiate emotions and behaviors, accept some responsibility toward addressing their problems, and accept the application of CBT to their problems and situations.

Homework Patients are

commonly asked to write down their feelings during the day outside of therapy. These feelings include positive and negative thoughts.

Length of Therapy Most therapy

session last for a few weeks and conclude in ten to twenty sessions if it is a short term problem.

What CBT Is Used for Depression Self-Esteem Body-Image Interpersonal Maturity Social-Emotional Anxiety Eating Disorders Drug and Alcohol Addictions Just About Anything Imaginable

Medications and CBT Prozac is still the

most commonly prescribed antidepressant today.

Pills are “viewed” as cheaper than therapy sessions.

Medications and CBT Cont. Prescription drug

therapies added no long term benefits to treatment and that CBT in itself showed the best long-term results.

Final TidbitsCBT is quick, easy available anywhere,

and, once you get the hang of it, free.

This therapy teaches you how to retrain yourself to look at things a different way in order to help yourself.