what is the cognitive approach to treating depression Flashcards
what is cognitive behaviour therapy
CBT us the most commonly used psychological treatment for depression and a range of other mental health problems
If you see a clinical psychologist for mental health the chances are you will receive CBT
what does CBT begin with
it begins with an assessment in which the patient and all cognitive behaviour therapist work together to clarify the patient’s problems
what do both the patient and psychiatrist do together
they jointly identify goals for the therapy and put together or irrational thought that will benefit
from challenge
Then involves working t change negative and irrational thoughts and finally put more effective behaviour into place
some CBT therapist do this using technique purely from Beck’s cognitive therapies, or some rely exclusively on Ellis’s rational emotive behaviour therapy
what is Beck’s cognitive therapy
cognitive therapy is the application of Beck’s cognitive therapy of depresion
the idea of behind cognitive therapy is to identify automic thoughts about the world, the self, and the future - this is the negative triad
Once identified these thoughts must be challenged - this is the central component of the therapy
what else does Beck’s cognitive therapy do as well as challenging the irrational thoughts
as well as challenging these thoughts directly, cognitive therapy aims to help patients to test the reality of the negative beliefs
They might therefore be set homework such as to react when they enjoyed an event or when people were nice to them
This sometimes is referred to as the “patient as a scientist” investigating the reality of their negative beliefs in the way a scientist would
In future sessions, if patients say that no one is nice to them or there is no point in going to events, the therapist can then produce this evidence and use it to prove the patients’ statements incorrect
what is Ellis rational emotional behaviour therapy
REBT extends the ABC model to an ABCDE model - D stands for dispute and E for effect
the central technique of REBT is to identify and dispute/challenge irrational thoughts
This involves vigorous argument
The intended effect is to challenge the irrational belief and so break the link between negative life events and depression
REBT identified different methods of disputing:
e.g. empirical arguments involve disputing whether there is actual evidence to support the negative belief
logical arguments involves disputing whether the negative thought logically follows from the facts
what is behavioural activation
alongside the purely cognitive aspects of CBT the therapist may also work to encourage a depressed patient to be more active and engage in enjoyable activities
This behavioural activation will provide more evidence for the irrational nature of beliefs
