Chapter 1: Basic Theory, Development and Current Status of CBT Flashcards
Systematic Desensitization
Treatment for anxiety disorders; asks clients to repeatedly imagine the feared stimulus whilst practising relaxation so that the fearful response would be replaced by a relaxed response
Imaginal
Thinking about a mental picture of the feared object
Basic Principles and Beliefs of CBT
Event—>Cognition—>Emotion/physiology
Core Idea of any Therapy calling itself Cognitive
People’s emotional reactions and behavior are strongly influenced by cognition’s
Cognitive Principle
To a greater or lesser degree, people react differently to similar events; it is not just the event that determines emotion
Behavioral Principle
Behavior can have a strong impact on thought and emotion, and, in particular, that changing what you do is often a powerful way of changing thoughts and emotions
Levels of Cognition
Negative Automatic Thoughts (NAT)
Dysfunctional Assumptions
Core Beliefs
Negative Automatic Thoughts
negatively tinged appraisals or interpretations - meanings we take from what happens around us or within us
Characteristics of NAT
One does not have to try to think NAT’s they just happen, automatically and without effort
They are specific thoughts about events or situations
They are, and can easily become, conscious
They may be brief and frequent, and so habitual, they are not heard
They are often plausible and taken as obviously true, especially when emotions are strong
Because of their immediate effect on emotional states, and their accessibility, tackled early on in therapy
Core Beliefs
Most of the time, they are not conscious
They manifest as general and absolute statements
They are usually learned early on in life as a result of childhood experiences
Generally not tackled directly in short-term therapy
Dysfunctional Assumptions (DA)
Bridges the gap between core beliefs and NAT’s; take the form of if…then propositions, framed as should or must; represent attempts to protect from negative core beliefs
Characterics of DA’s
Like core beliefs, not as obvious as NATS and may not be easily verbalized
Conditional statements, taking the form ‘if…then…’ or should/must…otherwise…. statements
What makes them dysfunctional is that they are too rigid or overgeneralized, not flexible enough to cope with the inevitable complications and setbacks of life
Usually tackled later on in therapy, after the client has developed some ability challenging NATs
Depression
Characteristic cognition in depression is the negative cognitive triad
Negative Cognitive Triad
Negatively based views of oneself, of the world in general, and of the future
Anxiety
General process is a bias towards the overestimation of threat and inability to cope
