Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Changing Negative Thoughts
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of therapy that is used to treat several types of mental disorders. Disorders that can be treated with cognitive therapy include anxiety, phobias, depression and delusional disorders.
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The goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to help patients recognize the thoughts and behavior patterns that are contributing to their problems and to help them find ways to change them. Advocates of cognitive therapy theorize that negative thoughts create negative emotions that cause a person to be unhappy. Cognitive therapy seeks to change these negative thoughts. It differs from other forms of psychotherapy because it recognizes that depression can be the result of life experiences and not necessarily due to unresolved issues from childhood.
Cognitive therapy can be used to treat:
- agoraphobia, social phobia and other phobias
- anxiety and panic disorders
- bulimia
- depression
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- schizophrenia.
The History of Cognitive Therapy
Although psychologists and psychiatrists considered the idea of cognitive therapy for a long time, it did not become a formal treatment until the 1950s. Albert Ellis, a therapist, developed the present form of cognitive therapy in the mid-1950s; he called this treatment Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy.
Psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck expanded on the treatment in the 1960s. Richard Heimberg, discovering that for many patients it was helpful to realize that others were going through similar problems, was the first to use group behavioral cognitive therapy.
Albert Ellis described the process of irrational thinking that leads to various mental disorders as an ABC process. The elements of this process are:
- A (Activating Event): This event is the stimulus that causes stress and emotional reactions.
- B (Beliefs): Negative beliefs develop as a result of the activating event.
- C (Consequence of the negative beliefs): These can include both the negative feelings and the negative behaviors in which the person engages.
In cognitive therapy patients analyze why they have negative feelings, learn to recognize their dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors and then learn more positive ways to react to situations in their lives.
How Long Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Take?
The time length for cognitive behavioral therapy varies. Cognitive therapy can take as little as six weeks and as long as six months or more. Cognitive behavioral therapy information, such as locations for group sessions, should be available from your doctor.
The Pros And Cons Of Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive therapy can be a highly effective form of treatment, especially for depression. Current studies show that when combined with anti-depressant medications, cognitive therapy has very successful long-term results. Cognitive therapy is also helpful on its own.
Some of the reasons that cognitive therapy is so effective for treating depression is because it:
- addresses the hopeless feelings that accompany depression
- changes pessimistic thoughts, unrealistic expectations and negative self-talk that cause depression
- helps patients recognize which events in their lives are critical and which ones are minor
- provides support to ease the physical and mental pain of depression
- teaches the patient how to develop positive goals and make their self-talk more positive
- teaches the patient coping skills, interpersonal skills and other skills needed to change his or her behavior.
Cognitive therapy has its disadvantages, however. Some patients find it extremely difficult to talk with someone else about their feelings of anxiety, depression, anger or shame. Cognitive behavioral therapy can also be difficult for patients who have concentration problems. This can lead to even worse feelings of depression and anxiety. However, a good therapist will be able to help a patient who is having trouble using cognitive behavioral therapy work through these feelings.
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