Uses and Methods Associated With Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Psychology is consistently evolving in new and interesting ways. Old therapies are tweaked, making new or altered versions of the original. Cognitive behavior therapy is an example of an evolved form of therapy. The roots of cognitive behavior therapy lies within behavior therapy and cognitive therapy, both separate forms of treatment in the early part of the 20th century, slowly merging until it found prominence in the 1960s. The article by Deborah A. Roth, Winnie Eng, and Richard G. Heimberg discusses the underlying theories behind CBT, its uses, and the methodology of cognitive behavior therapy. They argue that cognitive behavior therapy is an inclusive therapeutic approach that accepts that cognitions, physiology, and behavior are all interrelated. This treatment model postulates that a client's emotional or behavioral distress is affected by how they perceive, manipulate, and respond to information within their thought process.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) merges underlying ideas typically associated with information-processing and learning theories. It assumes that there is a reciprocal relationship between what a client thinks and their emotional experience, physiology, and behavior. In CBT, there needs to be clearly defined roles for both the client and the therapist. Both are active participants, the therapist is the educator, instructing the client about cognitive models that are utilized to comprehend the etiology and the upkeep of the client's specific problems (Roth, Eng,&Heimberg, 2002) . The therapist is also responsible for teaching the client cognitive and behavioral methods created to help with their problems. The client or patient is deemed the expert on their personal experiences, and both the therapist and client work towards overcoming the client's problems. This is an important component to CBT. Therapists tell their clients they do not have all the answers. Clients must seek out new experiences and learn to adapt different perspectives on the world. They are taught to act as their own therapists, applying the philosophies of CBT with decreasing help from the therapist (Roth, Eng,&Heimberg, 2002).

One of the core principles of CBT treatment is making clients cognizant of their negative automatic thoughts (Roth, Eng,&Heimberg, 2002). Clients are used to having negative thoughts, and the suddenness of these thoughts does not give clients enough time to even be fully aware of them. Additionally, clients do not go into treatment with a clear understanding of the ways in which negative beliefs affect physiological and behavior processes. The first step in treatment is to help clients become aware of their thoughts, through self-monitoring exercises. CBT targets beliefs and expectations about oneself and one's future, about others, and about the world. Clients slowly become skilled at this process, is it paramount to also teach them to analyze their thoughts and to mold them to be more rational and adaptive, while being aware of how changing cognitive patterns can influence feelings and behavioral patterns.

Another behavioral technique used is exposure and response prevention (EX/RP). In this technique clients are stimulated to fight the urge to participant in dysfunctional behaviors while exposing themselves to the trigger that provoke these behaviors. These exercises are meant to assess the intensity of the client's beliefs and teach clients to utilize more effective coping strategies and to feel in better control of their behaviors.

Studies of the efficiency of CBT for different disorders wanted to seek answers to common questions. Researchers explore whether CBT is an effective therapy method for a particular disorder through "open-label" trials, where all participants in the study receive CBT and change is analyzed from before to after treatment. If the treatment is demonstrated to be effective, it is vital to determine its long-term effectiveness once therapy sessions have ended (Roth, Eng,&Heimberg, 2002) . The article delves into the efficacy of CBT for a variety of disorders. First is mood disorders, CBT have not been shown to particularly effective over any other therapy treatment. A study conducted by the National Institutes of Mental Health showed that CBT was only slightly more effective than interpersonal psychotherapy and tricyclic antidepressants for mild depression but less effective for more severe cases (Roth, Eng,&Heimberg, 2002). For anxiety disorders, CBT is seen as the primary treatment of choice and has been used for years. In the case of bulimia nervosa, CBT has been associated with reductions in negative behaviors and negative though processes (Phillips & Rogers, 2011). CBT, like in anxiety disorders, has proven to be effective in the long-term, implying that clients learn to apply the principles after treatment has ended. CBT has also been used to treat alcohol disorders, successful treatments have been created by applying the foundation of CBT. The goal is not abstinence but moderation, by engaging in self-monitoring and understanding the motives behind drinking, learning ways to reduce drinking, and adapting coping mechanisms.