Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Flashcards
Component: Dysfunctional thought diary
Clients asked to note events leading to negative emotions e.g. going to work as a form of ‘homework’
Record automatic negative thought, rate belief of it 1-100%
Write rational response to negative thoughts, rate belief 1-100%
Finally re-rate belief in automatic thought from event e.g. work
E.g. ‘I’m late for work and going to loose my job’ 100% belief
‘I’m late but will give my boss notice and it will be fine’ 75% belief
*Re rate original statement, hopefully lower
Component: Cognitive restructuring
Therapist + Client work together to identify & change negative thinking patterns
Known as ‘therapy during therapy’
Client taught to challenge negative automatic thoughts e.g. ‘Where’s the evidence X was talking about me?’
Helps rationalise + change negative automatic thoughts
Component: Pleasant Activity Scheduling
Client plans one pleasant activity a day to fit into routine e.g. eating lunch away from work desk to break normal routine
These activities induce positive emotions
Behavioural Activation technique - Client keeps record of experience + notes how they felt
If went wrong, explore what can be done to change that
Effectiveness: Therapist Competence
Main factor influencing success of CBT = Therapist competence
(Ability to structure sessions, planning, reviewing of homework)
15% of variance in outcomes of CBT down to therapist competence
Effectiveness: Individual differences
CBT more suitable for some than others
E.g. Less suitable for those with high irrational beliefs / High resistance to change
Also MH such as depression, schizophrenia
May need to be paired with other therapy e.g. Drug Therapy
Ethics: Patient blame
Assumes client responsible for disorder + up to them to change
Environmental causes overlooked e.g. family circumstances etc…
So, blaming patient for how they feel not helpful as may need other things around them to change too
However, free will aspect could be empowering
Aims of CBT
Aims to challenge negative thoughts and replace them with healthy thinking, as it’s assumed that mental illness is caused by faulty thinking process
Begins with an initial assessment where client discusses problems, and then sets goals with therapist to work towards
