Cognitive Behavior Therapy

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THEORY

KEY CONCEPTS:

“Although psychological problems may be rooted in childhood, they are reinforced by present ways of thinking.  A person’s belief system is the primary cause of disorders.  Internal dialogue plays a central role in one’s behavior.  Clients focus on examining faulty assumptions and misconceptions and on replacing these with effective beliefs” (Gerald & Corey, 2013).

PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THE THEORY:

 

“B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) was a prominent spokesperson for behaviorism and can be considered the father of the behavioral approach to psychology.  Most of Skinner’s work was of an experimental nature in the laboratory, but others have applied his ideas to teaching, managing human problems, and social planning” (Gerald & Corey, 2013).

“Albert Bandura (b. 1925) and his colleagues did pioneering work in the area of social modeling and demonstrated that modeling is a powerful process that explains diverse forms of learning” (Gerald & Corey, 2013).

 

“Arnold A. Lazarus (b. 1932) is a pioneer in clinical behavior therapy and the developer of multimodal, the treatment is cognitive behavioral and draws on empirically supported methods” (Gerald & Corey, 2013).

GOALS OF THE THEORY:

“To teach clients to confront faulty beliefs with contradictory evidence that they gather and evaluate.  To help clients seek out their faulty beliefs and minimize them.  To become aware of automatic thoughts and to change them” (Gerald & Corey, 2013).

TECHNIQUES USED:

“Therapists use a variety of cognitive, emotive, and behavioral techniques; diverse methods are tailored to suit individual clients.  This is an active, directive, time-limited, present-centered, psychoeducational, structured therapy.  Some techniques include engaging in Socratic dialogue, collaborative empiricism, debating irrational beliefs, carrying out homework assignments, gathering data on assumptions one has made, keeping a record of activities, forming alternative interpretations, learning new coping skills, changing one’s language and thinking patterns, role playing, imagery, confronting faulty beliefs, self-instructional training, and stress inoculation training” (Gerald & Corey, 2013).

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