During cognitive-behavioral therapy the therapist seeks to produce change—change in the patient’s thinking and belief system—in order to bring about enduring emotional and behavioral change. Cognitive-behavioral therapy emphasizes collaboration and active participation between the therapist and client. Therapy is goal oriented and problem focused, the therapist aims to teach the patient to be his/her own therapist and therapy is often time-limited (e.g., 8-20 sessions).
Cognitive therapy was developed by Aaron T. Beck at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1960s as a structured, short-term, present-oriented psychotherapy for depression and mood-related disorders. As it has developed since that time, Cognitive-behavioral therapy is directed toward solving current problems and modifying dysfunctional thinking and behavior. Currently, cognitive-behavioral therapy has been adapted to a diverse set of psychiatric disorders and populations.
The cognitive model proposes that distorted or dysfunctional thinking (which influences the patient’s mood and behavior) is common to all psychological disturbances. Realistic evaluation and modification of thinking produce an improvement in mood and behavior. Enduring improvement results from modification of the patient’s underlying dysfunctional beliefs.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is based on both a cognitive formulation of a specific disorder and its application to the conceptualization or understanding of the individual patient. The therapist seeks in a variety of ways to produce cognitive change—change in the patient’s thinking and belief system—in order to bring about enduring emotional and behavioral change.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy hypothesizes that people’s emotions and behaviors are influenced by their perception of events. It is not a situation in and of itself that determines what people feel but rather the way in which they construe a situation. The way people feel is associated with the way in which they interpret and think about a situation. The situation itself does not directly determine how they feel; their emotional response is mediated by their perception of the situation. The cognitive-behavioral therapist is particularly interested in the level of thinking that operates simultaneously with the more obvious, surface level of thinking.
Certain principles underlie cognitive-behavioral therapy for all patients:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy is based on an ever-evolving formulation of the patient and problems in cognitive terms.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy emphasizes collaboration and active participation.
Therapy is goal oriented and problem focused. - The emphasis is on the present.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy is educative, aims to teach the patient to be his/her own therapist, and emphasizes relapse prevention.
- Therapy is time-limited; primarily 8-10 sessions.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy teaches patients to identify, evaluate, and respond to their dysfunctional thoughts and beliefs.