What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
By: Ellie Donnelly, Therapist at Cygnet Hospital Harrow
We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them
Epictetus
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is one of the major approaches to helping people overcome emotional problems and achieve their goals. It is underpinned by extensive research on the role of behaviour and cognitions (thinking patterns) in the development and maintenance of emotional disorders.
Clinical trials support the effectiveness of CBT in the treatment of a wide range of psychological disorders, including but not limited to: depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, eating disorders, obsessional disorders, substance abuse, anger, pain management and trauma. It has been proven effective with children, adolescents and adults in both group and individual forms of treatment.
CBT works on the premise that we ‘learn’ to think or act in counterproductive ways, and so can unlearn them.
CBT does not promote ‘positive thinking’. The aim is to become more realistic and self-helping in thinking. Unfortunately life experiences are not always positive, but interpreting them to mean that they prove that we are inferior, bad, or useless for example will lead to even greater upset.
We tend to blindly believe our own thoughts but the fact is two people in the same situation will think and react differently. CBT aims to identify the beliefs each individual has that may be causing one distress where another remains calm. Through re-considering our initial ‘automatic,’ negative thoughts about a situation it is possible to come to a more fact-based interpretation and change our reactions. CBT in a way takes a person’s thoughts to court. We are usually very good at prosecuting others and ourselves, but often forget the alternative defence!
Collaborative in approach, the client and therapist work together to identify and
understand the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviour. The focus is usually on problems in the ‘here and now’.
Unlike other types of therapy that can last for years, CBT is a time-limited process. In fact it is estimated that the average number of sessions required across all types of problems is only 16. The rapid improvement during treatment is probably due to the directive nature of the therapy and ‘homework assignments’ where the client puts into practice what they have learned during the session.
The client is encouraged to become their own therapist, acquiring skills to reflect on the meaning of their experiences to them, reinterpret these in a more rational way and implement change.
As William Shakespeare wrote:
There is nothing either good or bad,
but thinking makes it so.
Hamlet.
