Chapter 2: Distinctive Characteristics of CBT

Question 1

Characteristics of CBT

Answer 1

Collaborative, structured and active, time-limited and brief, empirical and problem oriented; it also frequentl employs the techniques of guided discovery, behavioral methods, in vivo work, summaries and feedback

Question 2

Collaborative Project

Answer 2

the therapist has knowledge and the client has expertise

Question 3

Openness & Honestly between Therapist and client

Answer 3

You need to be overt about what you are doing and why, and ask the client to give honest feedback about what he finds helpful and what he does not

Question 4

CBT is not about positive thinking

Answer 4

CBT aims to help clients realistically evaluate their thoughts, not to show that they are always wrong or that things are always positive
CBT acknowledges that some unhelpful thought may have been accurate in the past but are no longer accurate
The aim of treatment is to understand and resolve problems, not to fix thinking

Question 5

CBT does not deal with the past

Answer 5

CBT still works with past history when necessary, nor that it discounts the importance of past experiences in accounting for problem development
Here and now accounts for the development of a problem are often different from the ones that are maintaining it and so relatively greater attention is paid to the present situation than to the past

Question 6

CBT deals with superficial symptoms, not the roots of problems, so alternative ‘subsitute’ symptoms are likely to occur

Answer 6

Strategies taught in CBT are often readily generalized to other problems

CBT Formulation of a client’s problems aims to throw light on the psychological processes maintaining them, and to intervene in ways that impact on these processes. In doing so it addresses fundamental maintaining patterns

Question 7

CBT is interested in thoughts and not emotions

Answer 7

Usually as a means to an end and not an end in itself; if a client is experiencing no emotion during the process, it is very unlikely that he will achieve a shift in emotion or behavior because it is all interrelated

Question 8

CBT is not interested in the unconscious

Answer 8

It recognizes that cognitive processes may not be conscious;

Question 9

CBT demands high intelligence

Answer 9

Makes no greater demands on intelligence other than any other therapy and has been adapted for use with people with learning difficulty

Question 10

What is “Socratic questioning”)

Answer 10

using questioning to evaluate thinking rather than persuasion,
debate, or lecturing

Question 11

What is a behaviour experiment

Answer 11

A behavioural experiment whereby a person can directly test their thinking.