CBT Flashcards
Who was Aaron Beck?
Dr. Aaron Beck was a psychiatrist who established the cognitive behavioral model of therapy (CBT) and created The Beck Institute in Pennsylvania.
What is the main focus of Beck’s Cognitive Behavioral Model?
The main focus is on changing negative thoughts and maladaptive behaviors through insight-oriented therapy.
What are cognitive distortions?
Cognitive distortions are ways of thinking that distort reality and lead to faulty assumptions and misconceptions.
What are automatic thoughts?
Automatic thoughts are personalized notions triggered by a particular stimulus that lead to emotional responses.
What is arbitrary inference?
Arbitrary inference is drawing conclusions without supporting evidence, including catastrophizing.
Example: If I have to move, it will be a major catastrophe! Change to: If I have to move, it will be inconvenient, but I’ll get through it.
What is overgeneralization?
Overgeneralization is holding an extreme belief based on one incident and applying it to other dissimilar incidents.
Example: You make a mistake while speaking at a meeting and think you’re not good at talking to people in general. Change to: The talk went well, just one or two mistakes.
What is personalization?
Personalization is relating external negative events to oneself, often in an ego-centric manner.
Example: The professor ignores you in the hall; she doesn’t like you. Change to: Wow, she must be really distracted.
What is polarized thinking?
Polarized thinking is all-or-nothing thinking, viewing situations in black and white terms.
Example: If you’re not perfect, you’re a failure. Change to: I didn’t get the job, but I learned from that interview.
What are the goals of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Goals include schema restructuring, separating behavior evaluation from self-evaluation, differentiating realistic and unrealistic goals, and learning to change thoughts and reactions.
What is the therapist’s role in CBT?
The therapist takes a didactic and collaborative role, teaching clients to recognize irrational thinking and setting measurable goals for therapy.
What are some commonly recommended workbooks for CBT?
Commonly recommended workbooks include The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns, MD, and The Anxiety & Worry Workbook by David Clark and Aaron Beck.
