The central point of cognitive psychotherapy is the position on the direct influence of thoughts on the feelings and behavior of a person. For example, a person who is at home alone in the evening heard a noise in the next room. If he thinks they are robbers, he may get scared and call the police. If he thinks that someone forgot to close the window, he may get angry at the person who left the window open and go to close the window. That is, the thought that evaluates the event determines emotions and actions. The same applies to depressed patients. A person may think that he is worthless or that no one loves him, and because of this, experience depression. If you make his thoughts more realistic and justified, then the person’s well-being improves — depression disappears.
Aaron Beck and his co-authors have developed a whole range of techniques aimed at correcting the automatic dysfunctional thoughts of depressed patients. For example, when working with patients who are prone to self-flagellation or taking on excessive responsibility, the technique of reattribution is used. The essence of the technique is to, through an objective analysis of the situation, highlight all the factors that could affect the outcome of events.
Homework is of the utmost importance in cognitive therapy. Separate chapters of the book are devoted to working with suicidal patients, group cognitive psychotherapy, behavioral techniques, possible technical difficulties, the use of antidepressants, and work with target symptoms. The book is written in good language, it provides numerous examples of the use of techniques.
The undoubted advantage of cognitive psychotherapy is its cost-effectiveness. On average, the course of therapy includes 15 sessions: 1-3 weeks — 2 sessions per week, 4-12 weeks — one session per week.
Cognitive therapy is also characterized by high efficiency. Its successful use leads to fewer relapses of depression than the use of drug therapy.
Alla Borisovna Kholmogorova calls Beck «a Freud of the second half of the XNUMXth century.» Perhaps not everyone will agree that Aaron Beck is the most important figure in psychotherapy since Sigmund Freud, but it is indisputable that this book was not accidentally published in the Golden Fund of Psychotherapy series. Recommended for study by all professionals working with depressed patients.
references
- A. Beck, A. Rush, B. Shaw, G. Emery. Cognitive therapy for depression.