theory: Cognitive-Behavioral Theories

Question 1

Five Cognitive-Behavioral Theories:

Answer 1

• behavioral therapy,
• cognitive therapy,
• cognitive-behavioral therapy,
• rational-emotive behavior therapy,
• reality therapy

Question 2

behaviorism

Answer 2

A scientific, research-based theory of counseling that aims to modify clients’ maladaptive behaviors. Behaviorists focus only on overt, observable client behaviors and specify that all client behavior is learned and, therefore, can be unlearned. Often referred to as the “second force” in counseling.

Question 3

cognitive-behavior modification

Answer 3

A cognitive-behavioral approach created by Donald Meichenbaum that trains clients to alter their internal cognitions—that is, self-talk—in order to change the way they react and respond to situations.

Question 4

self-talk

Answer 4

Also referred to as self-statements; the internal messages people give themselves

Question 5

cognitive restructuring

Answer 5

A technique used in cognitive-behavior modification to help clients adjust their self-talk. The process involves targeting the client’s self-statements that result in problematic behaviors or feelings and replace the self-statements with new statements that are more rational, logical, and positive.

Question 6

self-instructional training

Answer 6

A technique used in cognitive-behavior modification to teach clients how to alter their maladaptive thoughts and behavior in order to replace negative self-talk with self-enhancing cognitions.

Question 7

stress inoculation training

Answer 7

A process that combines cognitive and behavioral techniques (e.g., cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, problem solving) in order to help clients learn how to cope with stress. Clients then begin using these new techniques while imagining stressful situations and are eventually asked to apply them to real-life situations that trigger stress.

Question 8

cognitive therapy

Answer 8

A type of therapy developed by Aaron Beck which posits that peoples’ emotions and behaviors are a direct result of their cognitions. Cognitive therapy seeks to assist clients in identifying, testing, and restructuring their distorted, dysfunctional thoughts.

Question 9

automatic thoughts

Answer 9

A term used in cognitive therapy to refer to immediate personal beliefs and ideas that are unexamined and dysfunctional.

Question 10

distorted thinking

Answer 10

Inaccurate thoughts or ideas that maintain dysfunctional thinking and negative emotions. Specific types of distorted thinking include: dichotomous thinking (thinking in absolute terms, such as “always” and “never”); selective abstraction (focusing on only the negative aspects of a situation in order to support distorted thinking); overgeneralization (using isolated cases to make broad generalizations); magnification/minimization (exaggerating or understating personal characteristics or situations); labeling (occurs when people define themselves based on perceived imperfections); mind reading (occurs when people believe that they know what others are thinking about them without any evidence); and negative predictions (occurs when people anticipate that something bad will happen without any evidence and alter their behaviors accordingly).

Question 11

seven types of distorted thinking:

Answer 11

• dichotomous thinking,
• selective abstraction,
• overgeneralization,
• magnification/minimization,
• labeling,
• mind reading,
• negative predictions

Question 12

five cognitive therapy techniques:

Answer 12

• identify automatic thoughts,
• cognitive rehearsal,
• homework (directives),
• scriptotherapy,
• thought stopping

Question 13

cognitive rehearsal

Answer 13

A cognitive technique that assists clients in practicing their new thoughts before implementing them in an actual situation.

Question 14

directives

Answer 14

Homework assignments.

Question 15

scriptotherapy

Answer 15

A cognitive technique, commonly referred to as therapeutic writing, through which clients are asked to write down their thoughts for clarity and self-reflection

Question 16

thought stopping

Answer 16

A cognitive technique used to teach clients how to interrupt a pattern of negative self-statements or thinking; it usually involves the substitution of one thought for another.

Question 17

rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

Answer 17

A counseling theory developed by Albert Ellis, which addresses the relationship between thinking and emotion. REBT, formerly known as rational-emotive therapy (RET), asserts that somewhere between the activating event and the emotional consequence, people engage in self-talk, either rational or irrational, that triggers certain emotions. These rational beliefs (rBs) or irrational beliefs (Bs) are what produce people’s emotional responses to any given event. Therefore, REBT seeks to reduce clients’ interpersonal difficulty by modifying their irrational thoughts.

Question 18

Albert Ellis

Answer 18

An American psychologist who founded rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). His original theory was known as rational-emotive therapy (RET). Ellis maintained that individuals must modify their irrational self-talk in order to achieve healthy functioning.

Question 19

ABCDEs

Answer 19

An acronym used to explain the core beliefs of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). The activating event (A) is any event or experience that elicits negativity or unease. People’s belief systems (B) can be either rational or irrational in response to (A) and are what contribute to an emotional consequence (C) that is either beneficial or detrimental. By delineating this idea to clients, clients can see that (C) actually results from (B) and not (A), as often thought by clients. Next, irrational beliefs must be disputed (D) with the goal of developing (E), an effective new philosophy that allows people to replace their irrational beliefs with rational beliefs.

Question 20

five REBT techniques:

Answer 20

• reverse role-playing,
• disputing irrational beliefs,
• rational emotive imagery,
• emotional control cards,
• shame attack exercise

Question 21

reverse role-playing

Answer 21

A technique used in rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) to help clients dispute their irrational beliefs. Typically, the counselor pretends to be the client and holds dearly to the client’s irrational beliefs while the client plays the counselor and attempts to persuade the client to think in a more rational manner

Question 22

disputing irrational beliefs

Answer 22

A technique used in REBT in which the counselor challenges a client’s irrational beliefs.

Question 23

rational emotive imagery

Answer 23

A technique used in rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) to assist clients in disputing their irrational beliefs. Clients are asked to imagine their worst fears and to stay with the difficult, painful emotions that surface. The counselor requests that the client begin to repeat the new rational belief over and over until a shift from “dysfunctional emotion to a “self-helping” emotion occurs

Question 24

emotional control cards

Answer 24

A technique used in REBT to reinforce the disputation of irrational beliefs outside of counseling sessions. These cards list both appropriate and inappropriate feelings, which can serve as reminders to clients who are having a difficult time.

Question 25

shame attack exercise

Answer 25

A technique used in REBT that involves asking clients to participate in an activity that normally creates anxiety in order to help them realize that the outcomes are not nearly as embarrassing or devastating as they imagine.

Question 26

Reality Therapy

Answer 26

A type of therapy, based on choice theory, whose basic premise is that people make choices in order to meet their five basic needs: survival, belonging, power, freedom, and fun. According to William Glasser, the founder of reality therapy, people can make decisions that result in healthy, positive lives, or they can make decisions that result in self-destructive, unhappy lives.

Question 27

Choice Theory

Answer 27

A theoretical approach developed by William Glasser that holds people make choices to meet their five basic needs: survival (e.g., food, water, shelter, breathing), belonging (e.g., friends, family, relationships, love), power (e.g., self-respect, achievement, success, competence), freedom (e.g., independence, control, autonomy), and fun (e.g., hobbies, leisure activities, enjoyment, satisfaction).

Question 28

William Glasser

Answer 28

An American psychiatrist known for developing reality therapy and choice theory. His ideas focus on the role of personal choice, responsibility, and transformation in an individual’s life.

Question 29

WDEP

Answer 29

wants
doing
evaluation
planning