Cognitive-behavioral therapy

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview[edit | edit source]

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapy based cognitions, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors, with the aim of influencing disturbed emotions. The general approach, developed out of behavior modification, Cognitive Therapy and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, has become widely used to treat various kinds of neuroses and psychopathology, including mood disorders and anxiety disorders. The particular therapeutic techniques vary according to the particular kind of client or issue, but commonly include keeping a diary of significant events and associated feelings, thoughts and behaviors; questioning and testing cognitions, assumptions, evaluations and beliefs that might be unhelpful and unrealistic; gradually facing activities which may have been avoided; and trying out new ways of. Relaxation and distraction techniques are also commonly included. CBT is widely accepted as an evidence- and empiricism-based, cost-effective psychotherapy for many disorders and psychological problems. It is sometimes used with groups of people as well as individuals, and the techniques are also commonly adapted for self-help manuals and, increasingly, for self-help software packages.

An example of sex will illustrate the process: Having made a mistake, a person believes, "I'm useless and can't do anything right." This, in turn, worsens the mood, leading to feelings of depression; the problem may be worsened if the individual reacts by avoiding activities and then behaviorally confirming his negative belief to himself. As a result, a successful experience becomes more unlikely, which reinforces the original thought of being "useless." In therapy, the latter example could be identified as a self-fulfilling prophecy or "problem cycle," and the efforts of the therapist and client would be directed at working together to change this. This is done by addressing the way the client thinks and behaves in response to similar situations and by developing more flexible ways to think and respond, including reducing the avoidance of activities. If, as a result, the client escapes the negative thought patterns and destructive behaviors, the feelings of depression may, over time, be relieved. The client may then become more active, succeed more often, and further reduce feelings of depression.

The objectives of CBT typically are to identify irrational or maladaptive thoughts, assumptions and beliefs that are related to debilitating negative emotions and to identify how they are dysfunctional, inaccurate, or simply not helpful. This is done in an effort to reject the distorted cognitions and to replace them with more realistic and self-helping alternatives.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is not an overnight process. Even after patients have learned to recognize when and where their mental processes go awry, it can take months of effort to replace a dysfunctional cognitive-affective-behavioral process or habit with a more reasonable, salutary one.

The cognitive model especially emphasized in psychiatrist Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy says that a person's core beliefs (often formed in childhood) contribute to "automatic thoughts" that pop up in everyday life in response to situations. Cognitive Therapy practitioners hold that clinical depression is typically associated with negatively biased thinking and irrational thoughts.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is often used in conjunction with mood stabilizing medications to treat bipolar disorder. Its application in treating schizophrenia along with medication and family therapy is recognized by the NICE guidelines (see below) within the British NHS.

History[edit | edit source]

The roots of CBT can be traced to the development of behavior therapy in the early 20th century, the development of cognitive therapy in the 1960s, and the subsequent merging of the two. Behavior therapeutical approaches appeared as early as 1924^[1], with Mary Cover Jones' work on the unlearning of fears in children^[2]. However, it was during the period 1950 to 1970 that the field really emerged, with researchers in the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa who were inspired by the behaviorist learning theory of Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson and Clark L. Hull.^[1] In Britain, this work was mostly focused on the neurotic disorders through the work of Joseph Wolpe, who applied the findings of animal experiments to his method of systematic desensitization^[3], the precursor to today's fear reduction techniques.^[1]. British psychologist Hans Eysenck, inspired by the writings of Karl Popper, criticized psychoanalysis in arguing that "if you get rid of the symptoms, you get rid of the neurosis" ^[4], and presented behavior therapy as a constructive alternative.^[5][1]. In the United States, psychologists were applying the radical behaviorism of B. F. Skinner to clinical use. Much of this work was concentrated towards severe, chronic psychiatric disorders, such as psychotic behavior^[6][1] and autism^[7][1].

Although the early behavioral approaches were successful in many of the neurotic disorders, it had little success in treating depression.^[1] Behaviorism was also losing in popularity due to the so-called "cognitive revolution". The therapeutic approaches of Aaron T. Beck and Albert Ellis gained popularity among behavior therapists, despite the earlier behaviorist rejection of "mentalistic" concepts like thoughts and cognitions. Both these systems included behavioral elements and interventions and primarily concentrated on problems in the present. Ellis' system, originated in the early and mid 1950s, was first called rational therapy, and can arguably be called one of the first forms of cognitive behavioral therapy. It was partly founded as a reaction against popular psychotherapeutic theories at the time, mainly psychoanalysis.^[8] Aaron T. Beck, inspired by Ellis, developed cognitive therapy, in the 1960s.^[9] Cognitive therapy rapidly became a favorite intervention to study in psychotherapy research in academic settings. In initial studies, it was often contrasted with behavioral treatments to see which was most effective. During the 1980s and 1990s, cognitive and behavioral techniques was merged into cognitive behavioral therapy. Pivotal in this merging was the successful developments of treatments of panic disorder by David M. Clark in the UK and David H. Barlow in the US.^[1]

Concurrently with the contributions of Ellis and Beck, starting in the late 1950s and continuing through the 1970s, Arnold A. Lazarus developed what was arguably the first form of broad-spectrum cognitive behavioral therapy. ^[10]. He later broadened the focus of behavioral treatment to incorporate cognitive aspects^[11]. When it became clear that optimizing therapy's effectiveness and effecting durable treatment outcomes often required transcending more narrowly focused cognitive and behavioral methodsTemplate:Clarifyme, Arnold Lazarus expanded the scope of CBT to include physical sensations (as distinct from emotional states), visual images (as distinct from language-based thinking), interpersonal relationships, and biological factors.

Samuel Yochelson and Stanton Samenow pioneered the idea that cognitive behavioral approaches can be used successfully with a criminal population. They are the authors of, Criminal Personality Vol.I. This book has an extensive amount of information regarding the dynamics of criminal thinking and application of cognitive behavioral approaches.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy[edit | edit source]

CBT can be seen as an umbrella term for many different therapies that share some common elements.^[12] While similar views of emotion have existed for millennia, the earliest form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy was developed by Albert Ellis (1913-2007) in the early 1950s. Ellis eventually called his approach Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, or REBT, as a reaction against popular psychoanalytic methods at the time.^[8] Aaron T. Beck independently developed another CBT approach, called Cognitive Therapy, in the 1960s.^[9] Cognitive therapy rapidly became a favorite intervention to study in psychotherapy research in academic settings. In initial studies, it was often contrasted with behavioral treatments to see which was most effective. However, in recent years, cognitive and behavioral techniques have often been combined into cognitive behavioral treatment. This is arguably the primary type of psychological treatment being studied in research today.

Concurrently with the pioneering contributions of Ellis and Beck, starting in the late 1950s and continuing through the 1970s, Arnold A. Lazarus developed what was arguably the first form of "Broad-Spectrum" Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. Indeed, in 1958, Arnold Lazarus was the first person to introduce the terms "behavior therapy" and "behavior therapist" into the professional literature (i.e., Lazarus, A. A. "New methods in psychotherapy: a case study". South African Medical Journal, 1958, 32, 660-664). He later broadened the focus of behavioral treatment to incorporate cognitive aspects (e.g., see Arnold Lazarus' 1971 landmark book Behavior Therapy and Beyond, perhaps the first clinical text on CBT). When it became clear that optimizing therapy's effectiveness and effecting durable treatment outcomes often required transcending more narrowly focused cognitive and behavioral methods, Arnold Lazarus expanded the scope of CBT to include physical sensations (as distinct from emotional states), visual images (as distinct from language-based thinking), interpersonal relationships, and biological factors. The final product of Arnold Lazarus' approach to psychotherapy is called Multimodal Therapy and is, perhaps, the most comprehensive form of CBT in addition to REBT that also shares many of the same assumptions and theorizing.

Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) is a similar approach in treating mental illnesses, based on the protocol by Richard Heimberg.^[13] In this case, clients participate in a group and recognize they are not alone in suffering from their problems.

A sub-field of cognitive behavioral therapy used to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder makes use of classical conditioning through extinction (a type of conditioning) and habituation. (The specific technique, Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP) has been demonstrated to be more effective than the use of medication—typically SSRIs—alone). CBT has also been successfully applied to the treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, health anxiety, Social phobia and Panic Disorder. In recent years, CBT has been used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia, such as delusions and hallucinations. This use has been developed in the UK by Douglas Turkington and David Kingdon.

Other types of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy include Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Self-Instructional Training, Schema-Focused Therapy and many others.^[14]

CBT has a good evidence base in terms of its effectiveness in reducing symptoms and preventing relapse. It has been clinically demonstrated in over 400 studies to be effective for many psychiatric disorders and medical problems for both children and adolescents. It has been recommended in the UK by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence as a treatment of choice for a number of mental health difficulties, including post-traumatic stress disorder, OCD, bulimia nervosa and clinical depression.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy most closely allies with the Scientist-Practitioner Model of Clinical Psychology, in which clinical practice and research is informed by a scientific perspective; clear operationalization of the "problem" or "issue"; an emphasis on measurement (and measurable changes in cognition and behavior); and measurable goal-attainment.

Depression[edit | edit source]

See also Clinical Depression

Negative thinking dominates when a person experiences depression. The depressed person can experience negative thoughts as being beyond their control, thereby allowing them to become automatic and self-perpetuating.

Negative thinking can be categorized into a number of common patterns called "cognitive distortions." The cognitive therapist provides techniques to give the client a greater degree of control over negative thinking by correcting these distortions or correcting thinking errors that abet the distortions, in a process called cognitive restructuring.

Causes of depression according to cognitive theory[edit | edit source]

One etiological theory of depression is the Aaron Beck cognitive theory of depression. His theory is regarded as the most verified psychological theory of depression. His theory states that depressed people think the way they do because their thinking is biased towards negative interpretations. According to Beck’s theory of the etiology of depression, depressed people acquire a negative schema of the world in childhood and adolescence. (Children and adolescents who suffer from depression acquire this negative schema earlier.) Depressed people acquire such schemas through a loss of a parent, rejection of peers, criticism from teachers or parents, the depressive attitude of a parent and other negative events. When the person with such schemas encounters a situation that resembles in some way, even remotely, the conditions in which the original schema was learned, the negative schemas of the person are activated. ^[15]

Beck also included a negative triad in his theory. A negative triad is made up of the negative schemas and cognitive biases of the person. A cognitive bias is a view of the world. Depressed people, according to this theory, have views such as “I never do a good job.” A negative schema helps give rise to the cognitive bias, and the cognitive bias helps fuel the negative schema. This is the negative triad. Also, Beck proposed that depressed people often have the following cognitive biases: arbitrary inference, selective abstraction, overgeneralization, magnification and minimization. These cognitive biases are quick to make negative, generalized, and personal inferences of the self, thus fueling the negative schema.^[16]

Another cognitive theory of depression is the Hopelessness Theory of depression. This is the latest theory of the helpless/hopeless theories of depression. According to this theory, hopelessness depression is caused by a state of hopelessness. A state of hopelessness obtains when the person believes that no good outcomes will happen and that bad ones will happen instead. Also, the person feels that he or she has no ability to change the situation so that good things will happen. Stressors (negative life events) are thought to interact with a diathesis (in this case, a predisposing factor to depression) to create a sense of hopelessness.^[17]

Some proposed diatheses are attributing negative events to stable and global factors, low self-esteem, and a tendency to believe that negative life events will have severe negative consequences. Such diatheses increase the possibility that a person will experience hopelessness depression.

Attributional style[edit | edit source]

An approach to depression based upon attribution theory in social psychology is related to the concept of attributional style. First advanced by Lyn Abramson and her colleagues in 1978, this approach argues that depressives have a typical attributional style —they tend to attribute negative events in their lives to stable and global characteristics of themselves.^[18] This theory is sometimes known as a revised version of learned helplessness theory.

In 1989, this theory was challenged by Hopelessness Theory.^[19] This theory emphasized attributions to global and stable factors, rather than, as in the original model, internal attributions. Hopelessness Theory also emphasizes that beliefs about the consequences of events, and rated importance of events, may be at least as important as causal attributions in understanding why some people react to negative events with clinical depression.

The ABCs of Irrational Beliefs[edit | edit source]

A major aid in cognitive therapy is what Albert Ellis called the ABC Technique of Irrational Beliefs.^[8] The first three steps analyze the process by which a person has developed irrational beliefs. They may be recorded in a three-column table.

• A - Activating Event or objective situation. The first column records the objective situation, that is, an event that ultimately leads to some type of high emotional response or negative dysfunctional thinking.

• B - Beliefs. In the second column, the client writes down the negative thoughts that occurred to him or her.

• C - Consequence. The third column is for the negative disturbed feelings and dysfunctional behaviors that ensued. The negative thoughts of the second column are seen as a connecting bridge between the situation and the distressing feelings. The third column C is next explained by describing emotions or negative thoughts that the client believes are caused by A. These could be anger, sorrow, anxiety, etc.

For example, Gina is upset because she got a low mark on a math test. The Activating event, A, is that she failed her test. The Belief, B, is that she must have good grades or she is worthless. The Consequence, C, is that Gina feels depressed.

• Reframing. After irrational beliefs have been identified, the therapist will often work with the client in challenging the negative thoughts on the basis of evidence from the client's experience by reframing it, meaning to re-interpret it in a more realistic light. This helps the client to develop more rational beliefs and healthy coping strategies.

From the example above, a therapist would help Gina realize that there is no evidence that she must have good grades to be worthwhile, or that getting bad grades is awful. She desires good grades, and it would be good to have them, but it hardly makes her worthless. If she realizes that getting bad grades is disappointing, but not awful, and that it means she is currently bad at math or at studying, but not as a person, she will feel sad or frustrated, but not depressed. The sadness and frustration are likely healthy negative emotions and may lead her to study more effectively from then on.

Effectiveness of CBT with or without drugs for depression[edit | edit source]

A large-scale study in 2000^[20] showed substantially higher results of response and remission (73% for combined therapy vs. 48% for either CBT or a particular discontinued antidepressant alone) when a form of cognitive behavior therapy and that particular discontinued anti-depressant drug were combined than when either modality was used alone.

The effectiveness of combination therapy is endorsed by the Australian depressioNet group:

Currently the most effective treatment for major (clinical) depression is considered to be a combination of antidepressant medication and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.^[21]

For more general results confirming that CBT alone can provide lower but nonetheless valuable levels of relief from depression, and result in increased ability for the patient to remain in employment, see The Depression Report,^[22] which states: 1000people attend up to sixteen weekly sessions one-on-one lasting one hour each, some will drop out but within four months 50 people will have lost their psychiatric symptoms over and above those who would have done so anyway. After recovery, people who suffered from anxiety are unlikely to relapse. . . . So how much depression can a course of CBT relieve, and how much more work will result? One course of CBT is likely to produce 12 extra months free of depression. This means nearly two months more of work.

The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines (April 2000) indicated that among psychotherapeutic approaches, cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy had the best-documented efficacy for treatment of major depressive disorder, although they noted that rigorous evaluative studies had not been published.^[23]

CBT with children and adolescents[edit | edit source]

The use of CBT has been extended to children and adolescents with good results. It is often used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, and symptoms related to trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Significant work has been done in this area by Mark Reinecke and his colleagues at Northwestern University in the Clinical Psychology program in Chicago. Paula Barrett and her colleagues have also validated CBT as effective in a group setting for the treatment of youth and child anxiety using the Friends Program she authored. This CBT program has been recognized as best practice for the treatment of anxiety in children by the World Health Organization.Combining the Biofeedback method with the CBT process is very effective.(( cite-book Biofeedback You Are In Control Editor Dr.Yigal Gliksman,)) ((www.lulu.com/content/1800043)) date 2008. CBT has been used with children and adolescents to treat a variety of conditions with good success.^[24][25]

CBT is also used as a treatment modality for children who have experienced Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, chronic maltreatment, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.^[26] It would be one component of treatment for children with C-PTSD, along with a variety of other components, which are discussed in the Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder article.

Computerized CBT[edit | edit source]

As the name suggests, this is a computerized form of CBT, in which the user interacts with computer software (either on a PC, or sometimes via a voice-activated phone service), instead of face to face with a therapist.

Computerized CBT is not a replacement for face-to-face therapy but can provide an option for patients, especially in light of the fact that there are not always therapists available, or the cost can be prohibitive. Computerized CBT is clinically proven and drug-free. For people who are feeling depressed and withdrawn, the prospect of having to speak to someone about their innermost problems can be off-putting. In this respect, CCBT (especially if delivered online) can be a good option.

Randomized controlled trials have proven its effectiveness, and in February 2006 the UK's National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended that CCBT be made available for use within the NHS across England and Wales, for patients presenting with mild/moderate depression, rather than immediately opting for medication (i.e. antidepressant pills).^[27]

A new UK government initiative for tackling Mental Health issues[2] has recently been launched by the Care Services Improvement Partnership.[3] This confirms Primary Care Trust (PCT) responsibilities in delivering the NICE Technology Appraisal on CCBT. National Director for Mental Health, Professor Louis Appleby CBE[4] has confirmed that by 31 March 2007 PCTs should have ST Solutions' "FearFighter" and Ultrasis' "Beating the Blues" CCBT products in place and the NICE Guidelines should be met.

Specific applications[edit | edit source]

CBT is applied to many clinical and non-clinical conditions and has been successfully used as a treatment for many clinical disorders, personality conditions and behavioral problems.^[28] Whilst CBT is highly effective for a number of disorders it is important to note that cognitive behavioural therapy is unlikely to be effective in patients with substance dependence and/or abuse problems as cognitive behavioral therapy itself cannot change drug or alcohol induced mental health symptoms.^[29][30]

Anxiety disorders[edit | edit source]

A basic concept in CBT treatment of anxiety disorders is in vivo exposure—a gradual exposure to the actual, feared stimulus. This treatment is based on the theory that the fear response has been classically conditioned and that avoidance positively reinforces and maintains that fear. This "two-factor" model is often credited to O. Hobart Mowrer^[31]. Through exposure to the stimulus, this conditioning can be unlearned; this is referred to as extinction and habituation. A specific phobia, such as fear of spiders, can often be treated with in vivo exposure and therapist modeling in one session^[32]. Obsessive compulsive disorder is typically treated with exposure with response prevention.

Social phobia has often been treated with exposure coupled with cognitive restructuring, such as in Heimberg's group therapy protocol^[33]. Evidence suggests that cognitive interventions improve the result of social phobia treatment^[34].

CBT has been shown to be effective in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, and possibly more effective than pharmacological treatments in the long term^[35]. In fact, one study of patients undergoing benzodiazepine withdrawal who had a diagnosis of generalised anxiety disorder showed that those who received CBT had a very high success rate of discontinuing benzodiazepines compared to those who did not receive CBT. This success rate was maintained at 12 month follow up. Furthermore in patients who had discontinued benzodiazepines it was found that they no longer met the diagnosis of general anxiety disorder and that patients no longer meeting the diagnosis of general anxiety disorder was higher in the group who received CBT. Thus CBT can be an effective tool to add to a gradual benzodiazepine dosage reduction program leading to improved and sustained mental health benefits.^[36]

Mood disorders[edit | edit source]

One etiological theory of depression is Aaron Beck's cognitive theory of depression. His theory states that depressed people think the way they do because their thinking is biased towards negative interpretations. According to this theory, depressed people acquire a negative schema of the world in childhood and adolescence as an effect of stressful life events. When the person with such schemata encounters a situation that in some way resembles the conditions in which the original schema was learned, the negative schemata of the person are activated^[37].

Beck also described a negative cognitive triad, made up of the negative schemata and cognitive biases of the person; Beck theorized that depressed individuals make negative evaluations of themselves, the world, and the future. Depressed people, according to this theory, have views such as "I never do a good job," and "things will never get better." A negative schema helps give rise to the cognitive bias, and the cognitive bias helps fuel the negative schema. This is the negative triad. Also, Beck proposed that depressed people often have the following cognitive biases: arbitrary inference, selective abstraction, over-generalization, magnification and minimization. These cognitive biases are quick to make negative, generalized, and personal inferences of the self, thus fueling the negative schema^[37].

For treatment of depression, a large-scale study in 2000^[38] showed substantially higher results of response and remission (73% for combined therapy vs. 48% for either CBT or a particular discontinued antidepressant alone) when a form of cognitive behavior therapy and that particular discontinued anti-depressant drug were combined than when either modality was used alone.

For more general results confirming that CBT alone can provide lower but nonetheless valuable levels of relief from depression, and result in increased ability for the patient to remain in employment, see The Depression Report,^[39] which states: 100 people attend up to sixteen weekly sessions one-on-one lasting one hour each, some will drop out but within four months 50 people will have lost their psychiatric symptoms over and above those who would have done so anyway. After recovery, people who suffered from anxiety are unlikely to relapse. . . . So how much depression can a course of CBT relieve, and how much more work will result? One course of CBT is likely to produce 12 extra months free of depression. This means nearly two months more of work.

The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines (April 2000) indicated that among psychotherapeutic approaches, cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy had the best-documented efficacy for treatment of major depressive disorder.^[40]

Insomnia[edit | edit source]

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been found to be effective in reducing benzodiazepine usage in the treatment of insomnia. A large-scale trial utilizing CBT for chronic users of sedative hypnotics including nitrazepam, temazepam and zopiclone found the addition of CBT to improve outcome and reduce drug consumption in the treatment of chronic insomnia. Persisting improvements in sleep quality, sleep latency, and increased total sleep, as well as improvements in sleep efficiency and significant improvements in vitality and physical and mental health at 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-ups were found in those receiving cognitive behavioral therapy with hypnotics compared with those patients receiving hypnotics alone. A marked reduction in total sedative hypnotic drug use was found in those receiving CBT, with 33% reporting no hypnotic drug use. Authors of the study suggested that CBT is potentially a flexible, practical, and cost-effective treatment for the treatment of insomnia and that CBT administered coincident to hypnotic treatment leads to a reduction of benzodiazepine drug intake in a significant number of patients.^[41] Chronic use of hypnotic medications is not recommended due to their adverse effects on health and the risk of dependence. A gradual taper is usual clinical course in getting people off of benzodiazepines but even with gradual reduction a large proportion of people fail to stop taking benzodiazepines. The elderly are particularly sensitive to the adverse effects of hypnotic medications. A clinical trial in elderly people dependent on benzodiazepine hypnotics showed that the addition of CBT to a gradual benzodiazepine reduction program increased the success rate of discontinuing benzodiazepine hypnotic drugs from 38% to 77% and at 12 month follow-up from from 24% to 70%. The paper concluded that CBT is an effective tool for reducing hypnotic use in the elderly and reducing the adverse health effects that are associated with hypnotics such as drug dependence, cognitive impairments and increased road traffic accidents.^[42]

A further study in older people with insomnia comparing the hypnotic drug zopiclone against CBT found that CBT actually improved EEG slow wave sleep as well as increased time spent asleep and found that the benefits were maintained at 6 month follow-up. Zopiclone however worsened sleep by suppressing slow wave sleep. A lack of slow wave sleep is linked to impaired functioning and sleepiness. Zopiclone reduced slow wave sleep and was similar to placebo in that it produced no lasting benefits after treatment had finished and at 6 month follow-up whilst CBT did have significant lasting benefits. The authors stated that CBT was superior to zopiclone both in the short term and in the long term.^[43] A comparison of CBT and the hypnotic drug zolpidem (Ambien) found similar results with CBT showing superiority and sustained benefits after long term follow up. Interestingly the addition of CBT and zolpidem offered no benefit over CBT alone.^[44]

CBT with children and adolescents[edit | edit source]

The use of CBT has been extended to children and adolescents with good results. It is often used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and symptoms related to trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder. Significant work has been done in this area by Mark Reinecke and his colleagues at Northwestern University in the Clinical Psychology program in Chicago. Paula Barrett and her colleagues have also validated CBT as effective in a group setting for the treatment of youth and child anxiety using the Friends Program she authored. This CBT program has been recognized as best practice for the treatment of anxiety in children by the World Health Organization. CBT has been used with children and adolescents to treat a variety of conditions with good success.^[45][46]. CBT is also used as a treatment modality for children who have experienced complex posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic maltreatment^[47].

Research[edit | edit source]

Cognitive behavioral therapy most closely allies with the scientist–practitioner model, in which clinical practice and research is informed by a scientific perspective, clear operationalization of the problem, an emphasis on measurement (and measurable changes in cognition and behavior) and measurable goal-attainment.

Criticism[edit | edit source]

CBT has recently come under fire from non-CBT therapists who claim that the data do not fully support the extent of attention and funding it receives nor its extension beyond psychotherapy into matters such as reducing unemployment, and that the limitations of the CBT model when used to blanket-address psychological suffering are unrecognised. Psychotherapist and professor at the University of Essex, Andrew Samuels, claims this constitutes "a coup, a power play by a community that has suddenly found itself on the brink of corralling an enormous amount of money. Science isn't the appropriate perspective from which to look at emotional difficulties. Everyone has been seduced by CBT's apparent cheapness." ^[48] He considers CBT "a second-class therapy for citizens deemed to be second class."^[49]

References[edit | edit source]

Related Techniques & Therapies[edit | edit source]

• Behavioral activation (BA)
• Cognitive Therapy (CT)
• Computerised Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CCBT)
• Cognitive analytic therapy (CAT)
• Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
• Cognitive-behavior Modification
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Reality Therapy
• Applied Behavioral Analysis
• Behavior Modification
• Cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy
• Contingency Management
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
• Direct therapeutic exposure
• Exposure and response prevention
• Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy
• Multimodal Therapy
• Relapse Prevention
• Self Instructional Training
• Systematic desensitization
• Prolonged Exposure Therapy

Further reading[edit | edit source]

• Albano, M. & Kearney, Ca., (2000) When children refuse school: a cognitive behavioral therapy approach: Therapist guide. Psychological Corporation.
• Beck, A. (1993). Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. NY: Penguin. ISBN 9780452009288
• Beck, A., Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders, NY: Penguin, 1993. ISBN 9780452009288
• Burns, D. (1999). Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy (Revised Edition). Avon. ISBN 0-380-81033-6
• Burns, D., (1999). The Feeling Good Handbook. NY: Plume. ISBN 9780452281325
• Burns, David D. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. Revised Edition. Avon, 1999. ISBN 0-380-81033-6
• Bush, J., Vermont Department of Corrections (2002). A Manual for the Delivery of Cognitive Self-Change, Vermont Department of Corrections,
• Deblinger, E. & Heflin, A. (1996) . Treating sexually abused children and their non-offending parents: a cognitive behavioral approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication.
• Dryden, W. (1994). 'Ten Steps to Positive Living'. Sheldon Press
• Ellis, A. (2001). Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1573928793
• Ellis, Albert. Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Prometheus Books, 2001. ISBN 978-1573928793
• French, Abe.(2007). Thinking Matters Facilitator Manual.
• Leahy, R L and Holland, S J (2000) Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders. New York: Guilford
• McCullough Jr., James P. Treatment for Chronic Depression: Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP). Guilford Press, 2003. ISBN 1-57230-965-2
• Tanner, S., & Ball, J. (2001). Beating the Blues: A Self-help Approach to Overcoming Depression. ISBN 0-646-36622-X
• Willson, R., & Branch, R. (2006). Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies. For Dummies.
• Yochelson, S., & Samenow, S. (1976). The Criminal Personality: A profile for change. New York: Aronson.

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