Chapter 7: Cognitive Therapy Flashcards
cognitive therapy =
adjust information processing by reducing cognitive distortions and maladaptive schemas/core beliefs that make people cognitively vulnerable
schema’s=
peoples cognitive representations of themselves and others, their goals and expectations, memories, fantasies and previous learning
cognitive vulnerability=
an erroneous belief, cognitive bias, or pattern of thought that predisposes an individual to psychological problems.
reality vs. wishful thinking in CT
Importantly, CT does not try to substitute negative beliefs by positive ones: it is based on reality.
Further, it does not maintain that people’s problems or assumptions are irrational or imaginary. Rather, the assumption is that, in addition to real problems, there are biases that limit people’s response range.
CT vs. psychoanalysis
Procedures that are used in CT are similar to those used in psychoanalysis. However, CT assumes meaning are accessible, while psychoanalysis believes this meaning to be unconscious or repressed: CT does not regard a patient’s self-report as a screen for more deeply concealed ideas.
Further, CT is highly structured and usually short term, and involves active collaboration with the patient, while psychoanalysis is relatively unstructured, long-term and has a largely passive analysist.
CT vs. REBT
CT and REBT both emphasize the importance of cognition in psychological dysfunction and aim to change maladaptive assumptions with an active and directive therapist.
However, REBT assumes patients have irrational beliefs, rather than dysfunctional beliefs as in CT. Further, CT assumes cognitive specificity for each disorder, while REBT does not.
(cognitive specificity = typical cognitive content of a certain disorder.)
CT vs. BT
CT and BT are both empirical, present-centered, and problem oriented. They also require explicit identification of problems and trigger situations as well as consequences.
However, CT emphasizes the active role of the patient in their environment, while BT is based on simple conditioning (passive response to stimuli).
hoe kijkt CT naar personaliteit
CT views personality as being shaped by the interaction between innate disposition and the environment. Traits are seen as reflecting basic schemas developed in response to the environment.
Further, the cognitive vulnerabilities that individuals have, are seen as related to personality.
Beck: 2 major personality dimensions relevant to depression (and possible other disorders)
- sociotropy/social dependence
- autonomy
Socially dependent individuals became depressed following disruption of relationships, while autonomous people became depressed after defeat or failure to attain a desired goal.
Importantly, people display features of each of these 2 dimensions, depending on the situation. This suggest that they are rather styles of behavior (in certain contexts) than fixed personality structures.
social learning theory =
CT emphasizes an individuals social learning history in the development of maladaptive schemas. the way that a person structures and processes experiences is based on the consequences of past behaviours, vicarious learning from significant others, and expectations about the future.
cognitive distortions definitie
systematic errors in reasoning, evident during psychological distress
cognitive distortions vormen
- arbitrary inference
- selective abstraction
- overgeneralisation
- magnification and minimization
- personalization
- dichotomous thinking
arbitrary inference =
drawing a specific conclusion without supporting evidence or even in the face of contradictory evidence (after a long, busy day at work, concluding that one is a terrible mother).
selective abstraction =
conceptualizing a situation on the basis of a detail taken out of context, ignoring other information (getting jealous at one’s partner who tilts his/her head towards another person to be able to hear him/her at a noisy party).
overgeneralization =
applying a general rule from 1 or few isolated incidents too broadly and to unrelated situations (after a discouraging date, concluding that “all men are alike”).
magnification & minimization=
seeing something as far more or less significant than it actually is (“If I appear a bit nervous in class it will be a disaster”).
personalisation=
attributing external events to oneself without evidence supporting a causal connection (waving to a friend across a busy street and concluding he is mad when not getting a wave back).
dichotomous thinking =
categorizing experiences in one of two extremes (complete success or total failure: “Unless I write the best exam ever seen, I’m a failure as a student”).
systematic biases in depression
cognitive triad: negative view of the self, the world and the future
biases in (hypo)mania
inflated view of self and future
