Cognitive and Behavioral Techniques Therapy

Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive and behavioral techniques / therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT as commonly referred to encompasses several techniques. One is behavioral experiments whereby the psychologist helps the client to do behavioral experiments to test their thoughts and help them change their behavior through self-criticism and self-kindness. Second is thought records whereby the psychologist helps the client to change their beliefs through recording thoughts and their consequences. Another technique is imagery exposure which helps to provoke memories and positive emotions in the client. In vivo exposure is also another technique whereby the patient is exposed to the feared stimulus gradually in order to help them resole an issue Schacter, Gilbert, & Wegner, 2010()

The case of the fat lady

Intervention strategy for making and maintaining relationships

In order to help Betty explore and reduce her inner conflict and be able to make and maintain relationships, a cognitive therapist can help change how she thinks and reacts to their situation. In this case, the cognitive therapist will aim at changing the thoughts and ideas of Betty as the patient to make her feel more appreciated which in turn will help her to boost her self-esteem greatly. This strategy can also help Betty to reduce their eating acts and thus help her to slim. The cognitive therapist will aim at helping Betty to understand that not everyone will be proud to engage with her thus she will be able to tolerate her negative thoughts and feelings. She will also be able to stop looking at food as comfort for her feelings of rejection and thus reduce her eating disorder. The cognitive therapist will also target Betty's feelings and behaviors to help her see where she has been going wrong in terms of maintaining relationships.

Intervention strategy for fear of sex

Betty's fear of sex can be seen in the rejection she faced when she went to meet up with George and also in the way she talks about the stereotyping of fat ladies. Betty feels that she cannot have friends or a relationship because she is fat. It can also be seen in how she opens up to the therapist more than she does to a friend or a person in a relationship. It can also be seen in her sexual frustration and lack of physical contact with any man as a result of her constant rejection by men. As a cognitive therapist in order to help Betty deal with her fear of sex, the in vivo exposure approach would be best. This involves exposing Betty to sexual contact gradually. This would need her to start with a hug which would then be followed by a kiss, touching, and slowly develop into sexual intercourse. This will help her to avoid negative reinforcement and remove the fair in her. In vivo exposure is based on classic conditioning and though some psychologists argue that it can be unlearned, it has proved beneficial to therapists Holmes, 2002()

Intervention strategy for automatic thoughts

In this case, cognitive therapy can help Betty to get rid of her automatic thoughts by helping to eliminate the triggers of these thoughts. This involves ensuring that all thoughts that come as processes are changed in order to help change her underlying beliefs and thus help reduce any negative effects of automatic thoughts such as depression and anxiety. This involves the cognitive therapist working to identify the problems that cause the automatic thoughts and creating a functional behavioral and thought process which Betty can follow. One way this will succeed is by ensuring Betty stops associating fat people with rejection from individuals. This is a simple way of desensitizing her and ensuring that her thought patterns and beliefs are informed by new experiences and practices rather than her old beliefs.

In search of the dreamer

Marvin's automatic thoughts that connect his headaches to the sexual experience with his wife can be resolved through cognitive therapy. This would entail the cognitive therapist helping Marvin to try and focus on what is going through his mind rather than on his sexual experiences. This will help to eliminate the thought pattern developed by his automatic thoughts and thus help Marvin to respond to his headaches and depression in a different way. The first step in this plan would be for Marvin to recognize that he has feeling of depression and headaches. The next would be to find alternative reasons for them other than his sexual experiences. By helping Marvin to pay attention to other issues in his life, he will be able to influence his mental health and eliminate his automatic thoughts that lead to depression and headaches. The cognitive therapist will also need to show Marvin that his automatic thoughts are majorly biased meaning that though they seem acceptable, they are distorted and wrong. This will reinforce Marvin's feelings and remove the assumption that bad sex leads to his headaches and depression.

Race & Ethnicity

Cultural competence is extremely important for every psychologist. This is because it helps them to deal with ethnic and racial diversity in a better way. Though the cognitive therapist may feel that he or she treats everyone equally despite their ethnicity or race, it is important for them to have good reasons for developing multiculturalist interventions. One reason for this is that negative cultural assumptions may make a client feel that the therapist is incompetent and thus create unwillingness on the part of the client.

Cultural responsiveness enables the therapist to communicate with their clients in a way that is culturally acceptable and appropriate. This benefits both the client and the therapist especially in creating a therapeutic relationship. Cultural competence has been shown to improve the quality of interventions for ethnic minority groups as well as to improve their treatment outcomes. Treating all patients equally does not help to improve the treatment outcomes for general minority groups which require additional rigor and controls to ensure the intervention is effective S. Sue, Zane, Nagayama Hall, & Berger, 2009()