What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on identifying and changing negative thoughts and behaviors that contribute to emotional distress. It is a highly structured, collaborative, and goal-oriented approach to therapy that aims to help individuals develop more adaptive coping strategies. Both Albert Ellis and Aaron T. Beck played a significant role in shaping the foundations of CBT.
How does IH Psychotherapy utilize Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
At our practice, we utilize CBT to help clients learn how to identify and challenge the negative or unhelpful thoughts that contribute to their distress. We help clients examine the evidence for and against these thoughts and develop more balanced and realistic perspectives. Moreover, we help clients make positive changes by identifying and modifying unhelpful behaviours. This may involve using techniques like behavioural experiments, activity scheduling, and graded exposure to feared situations,
What are the tenets of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
1. Cognitive Restructuring: Identifying and challenging negative or distorted thoughts and replacing them with more realistic and positive ones.
2. Behavioral Activation: Encouraging individuals to engage in positive behaviours that improve mood and functioning.
3. Skills Training: Teaching individuals specific skills to cope with stress, manage emotions, and solve problems effectively.
4. Exposure and Response Prevention: Gradual exposure to feared situations or triggers, coupled with prevention of maladaptive responses, to overcome anxiety disorders.
What issues does Cognitive Behavioural Therapy address?
CBT is used to treat a wide range of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety disorders (such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), eating disorders, substance abuse, and personality disorders.
What does research show about the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
Research has shown that CBT is as effective or more effective than medication alone for various conditions, and the effects of CBT tend to be long-lasting (DeRubeis et al., 2005; Hollon et al., 2005). CBT has a strong evidence base and is considered one of the most effective forms of psychotherapy for many mental health issues including anxiety disorder (Kaczkurkin, 2015), post-traumatic stress disorder (Bisson et al., 2013; Kaczkurkin, 2015), eating disorders (Murphy et al., 2010), depression (Hollon et al. 2005: Gautum et al., 2020) and substance abuse disorders (Gautum et al., 2020).
It’s important to note that research outcomes may vary across different populations and issues, and further research is ongoing to explore the effectiveness of CBT in different contexts. It’s always advisable to consult a trained professional and consider multiple sources of evidence to make informed decisions about therapy approaches.
References
Bisson, J. I., Roberts, N. P., Andrew, M., Cooper, R., & Lewis, C. (2013). Psychological therapies for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. Cochrane Database System Review, 13(12). https://10.1002/14651858.CD003388.pub4
DeRubeis, R. J., Hollon, S. D. Amsterdam, J. D., Shelton, R. C., Young, P. R., Salomon, R. M., O’Reardon, J. P., Lovett, M. L., Gladis, M. M., Brown, L. L., & Gallop, R. (2005). Cognitive therapy vs medications in the treatment of moderate to severe depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(4), 409-416. https://doi/org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.4.409
Gautum, M., Tripathi, A., Deshmukh, D., & Gaur, M. (2020). Cognitive behavioural therapy for depression. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 62(Suppl2), S223-S229. https://doi.org/10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_772_19
Hollon, S. D., DeRubeis, R. J., Shelton, R. C., Amsterdam, J. D., Salomon, R. M., O’Reardon, J. P., Lovett, M. L., Young, P. R., Haman, K. L., Freeman, B. B., & Gallop, R. (2005). Prevention of relapse following cognitive therapy vs medications in moderate to severe depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(4), 417-422. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.4.417
Kaczkurkin, A. N. (2015). Cognitive-behavioural therapy for anxiety disorders; An update on the empirical evidence. Dialogues of Clinical Neuroscience, 17(3), 337-346. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.3/akaczkurkin
Murphy, R., Straebler, S., Copper, Z., & Fairburn, C. G. (2010). Cognitive behavioural therapy for eating disorders. Psychiatric Clinical of North America, 33(3), 611-627, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2010.04.004