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Cognitive-behavior therapy
Cognitive-behavior
therapy (cbt) is the type of psychotherapy
that has been studied the most and that
has a strong research support
for many various psychological disorders.
CBT is characterized by structure, goal
orientation, an active therapist, co-operation,
focus on present problems, a scientific basis,
homework, and a relatively short treatment period
(often between 5–30 sessions). Treatment is initiated with a
cognitive-behavioral analysis in order to
map out the relationship between thoughts,
feelings, actions and the environment. Each
cognitive-behavioral analysis is individually
tailored and its purpose is to identify each
clients unique problem picture. A cognitive-behavioral analysis
constitutes the basis from which a suitable
cognitive-behavioral treatment is chosen.
CBT is often conducted with a combination of
cognitive and behavioral methods. Evidently, CBT is
a result of an integration between cognitive
therapy and behavior therapy. In cognitive therapy
it is postulated that various forms of negative
thoughts are the most important factors that
generate the development and maintenance of various
psychological disorders. In behavior therapy the
view is that peoples psychological disorders are
developed and maintained through various learning
mechanisms (conditioning and operant learning).
With the help of behavior analysis it is possible
to find out the importance that negative thoughts
has in peoples well-being and functioning, and what
happens in situations in which people don't feel
well according to learning principles. The
following are examples of CBT methods:
Exposure therapy
Gradual exposure to
situations or thoughts that are avoided and that elicit strong
fear. The purpose is to emotionally process those situations or
thoughts so that they no longer elicit strong anxiety and fear.
Cognitive therapy: Identifying and
cognitively processing negative automatic thoughts,
thought patterns, and core beliefs that result in
negative self-views etc.
Social skills training: Training and
improving deficient social skills.
Examples of other cbt-methods: role
play, behavioral techniques, relaxation, behavioral
activation etc.
© Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) specialist in
Stockholm, 2005-2008, www.kbterapi.se
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