Overview of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is used for treating various health issues related to the mental conditions. It is based on the techniques that how the patient feel, act and think; all these interact with each other (Wong, 2013). The patient’s thoughts specifically determine their behavior and feelings. Thus, unrealistic and negative thoughts can lead to distress and problem. When the people suffer from psychological distress, their way of situation interpretation become crooked that cause negative impact on their action (Wong, 2013). The aim of the CBT is to support the people to be aware that when they develop negative interpretation and behavior pattern that underline the distorted thinking. The therapy helps the people to develop alternative thinking and behavior way that aims for a reduction of their psychological distress (La Roche & Lustig, 2013).
This approach believes that the abnormality stems from the world, faulty cognitions about the others. These faulty thinking might be through cognitive distortions (inaccurate processing of the information) or cognitive deficiencies (lack of the planning). These cognitions result in distortion in the technique related to the individuals view. Ellis recommended it occurs due to irrational thinking while Beck suggested cognitive triad (La Roche & Lustig, 2013). The people interact with the world through the mental representation of cognitive distortion. If the mental representations are not accurate or the way of reasoning among the individual is not sufficient then the behavior and emotions may develop disorder. The therapist teaches the client that how he can identify the distorted cognition through the evaluation process (La Roche & Lustig, 2013). The client acquires the learning of discrimination between the reality and thoughts and learning about the cognition influence on the feelings and the person are educated to observe, recognize and monitor their personal thoughts. Some common irrational assumptions are as follows; One’s idea that should be systematically competent entirely; the catastrophic idea when things are not according to the person’s way; the people’s idea that there is no control on the happiness; the idea that the person requires someone who is stronger than that person on which he can depend; the idea that the past history of the person has great influence on the present life. It is beleived that each and every individuals issue have the solution but if remains unresolved can result into disaster (Pilecki & McKay, 2013).
In codrina case, the first assumption is the impact of her past life on her present as she has sense of isolation. For such reason she not disclosed her emotions and has serious mood swings every time. Her ex-husband also complained that he always felt lonely and distant in his three years married life. The second assumption of the Cordina case is she felt that no one in this world is trustable that’s why she had an abusive relationship with a man for few years before her marriage and after that when her ex-husband had affair with his colleague she didnot reacted and felt relieved. The third assumption relted to the serious nature because of which her husband left her as she had not shown no emotion or feeling while knowing the fact that her husband had affair and was relaxed.
Cognitive Distortions in Codrina’s Case
Being a cognitive behavioral therapist, in Codrina case the goal should be a reduction of her sense of isolation and improvement of her non-trustable nature. The goal should include the self-awareness promotion and educate the person about the emotional intelligence that will help the client to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy emotions and feelings and rapidly reduction in the symptoms that emphasis on examination of the current situation of the client and solution of the current problem (Kathryn McHugh, 2010). For this, the therapist will plan for the regular homework for Codrina. The home work includes keeping a diary of the thoughts, for the isolation to meet a friend in the pub; all these support the patient to overcome her irrational beliefs. The goal is the people’s identification of own unhelpful beliefs and then proves them wrong as a result these irrational beliefs started to change(Persons, 2016).
The goal of the therapist is different from the Codrina goal as therapist want to reduce her negative thoughts and perception that cause distress, depression and the health problems and try to convert them into positive thoughts, but Codrina concern is only that either she will able to do love again in life or not that is not to reduce the negative thoughts (Reese, Rosenfield & Wilhelm, 2013).
Cognitive distortions are numbers of processes that are related to the thought distortion and these thoughts configuration are self-defeating and lead to depression or anxiety for the person. In the Codrina case, she has two types of cognitive distortions (Kathryn McHugh, 2010).
Magnification that is overstressed on the undesirable event’s importance as in the Codrina case because she had two bad experiences with men, she thinks that she is not able to do love again with anyone and because of her past life she has a sense of isolation and thinks that she has been shunned by the people
Overgeneralization means on a single unimportant event, there is drawing of negative conclusions as in the case of Codrina; she had non trustable nature because her husband had affairs with his co-worker in the second year of her married life (Carmin, 2012). Yet, due to guilt, her husband had told her about his affairs but at that time Codrina did not show any type of emotion and asked her to stop. That showed that she had non-trustable nature (Carmin, 2012).
Conclusion
The first method is Magic and Question according to this there will be a question on the assumption that if you have a magic stick that can change the world as you like and tomorrow you will wake up in your desirable world then what would be your experience (Reese, Rosenfield & Wilhelm, 2013). Once the therapist selects the goal then next step is prioritization of the goals that which goal is to achieve on priority after that there is a selection of the most important goal.
After that, for the achievement of the stated goal, the therapist can use the SMART analysis technique that is
S for Specific
M for measurable
A for achievable
R for realistic
T for the time frame
According to this goal should be specific that can be easily measured, can able to achieve and real goal and has a time frame in which this goal has to be achieved (Reese, Rosenfield & Wilhelm, 2013).
References
Carmin, C. (2012). Cognitive Behavior Therapy With Older Adults. Cognitive And Behavioral Practice, 19(1), 87-88. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2011.07.001
Kathryn McHugh, R. (2010). Evidence-Based Practice of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 39(1), 78-78. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16506070903190260
La Roche, M., & Lustig, K. (2013). Being Mindful About the Assessment of Culture: A Cultural Analysis of Culturally Adapted Acceptance-Based Behavior Therapy Approaches. Cognitive And Behavioral Practice, 20(1), 60-63. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2012.04.002
Persons, J. (2016). Science in Practice in Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Cognitive And Behavioral Practice, 23(4), 454-458. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2016.01.003
Pilecki, B., & McKay, D. (2013). The Theory-Practice Gap in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. Behavior Therapy, 44(4), 541-547. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2013.03.004
Reese, H., Rosenfield, E., & Wilhelm, S. (2013). Reflections on the Theory-Practice Gap in Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Behavior Therapy, 44(4), 609-613. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2013.06.001
Wong, C. (2013). Collaborative Empiricism in Culturally Sensitive Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Cognitive And Behavioral Practice, 20(4), 390-398. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2012.08.005