Behavioral therapy, namely cognitive-behavioral therapy, is used for many disorders and mental diseases. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective and well-researched in the history of psychiatry. It was developed by the American psychiatrist Aaron Beck in the XNUMXth century.
Behavioral therapy – description
This type of therapy is based on the principle behaviorism, i.e. the influence of the environment, stimuli and experiences on the behavior, behavior and thinking of a person. Premise behavioral therapy there is a belief that functional disorders result from learned responses to stimuli. It is these reactions, their orientation and cognition that the therapy focuses on. In behavioral therapy the most important is the so-called “here and now” and the future. It does not focus on the study of subconscious mental processes and past traumas, but teaches how to modify learned behaviors so as to get rid of neurotic behaviors, negative reactions to specific stimuli, disturbances in the perception of the world or oneself. Behavior Therapy it can be used as part of the patient’s treatment process, together with drugs or separately, as the only form of work with the patient.
Behavioral therapy – indications
Behavior Therapy it is used for anxiety disorders and depression. Behavior Therapy it is recommended for various types of phobias – for example, arachnophobia (fear of spiders), obsessive-compulsive disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This type of therapy is also used in the social rehabilitation of prisoners or adolescents staying in rehabilitation centers, as well as in the treatment of eating disorders: anorexia and bulimia, in which the patient has a disturbed image of his own body. Behavior Therapy it is also used in the case of postpartum depression.
Behavioral therapy – course
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a short-term therapy. Duration behavioral therapy this is usually from 6 weeks to six months, while other treatments, such as psychodynamic therapy, can last up to several years. Therapeutic sessions in progress therapy behavioral they are usually held twice a week, last approximately 30-60 minutes, and cover the four primary factors. First, the problem that the patient needs to work on is called. Then the method is determined thinking the patient when faced with a given situation. Emotions, feelings, and associations triggered by a stimulus or a situation in which the patient reacts in a certain way are called. These factors contribute to how the patient ultimately acts in response to a given stimulus.
It is this reaction that can be problematic and may hinder the patient’s life and functioning. For example, with an eating disorder such as bulimia, the patient has a disturbed body image and bouts of binge eating, followed by frequent vomiting. This reaction is sometimes a way of reacting to stimuli such as stressful situations, personal problems, problems with accepting one’s own body. In this case, cognitive behavioral therapy allows you to analyze the relationship between the emotions and actions of the patient, to make people aware of the way of thinking and therefore to facilitate control over the repetition of destructive behavior, or in other cases, for example, panic attacks.
W behavioral therapy the method of the so-called Socratic dialogue is used, which consists in asking the patient questions in such a way that the patient himself reaches conclusions about his tendencies and behaviors.
Defect behavioral therapy the fact that it does not focus on the cause of anxiety, it only allows you to control them, for this reason in many cases it should be only a part of the patient’s entire therapy, not the only solution to his problems.
Behavior Therapy Its task is to develop the patient’s self-awareness and self-control of behavior, which will allow to avoid negative and life-difficult behaviors related to disorders, prevent recurrence of disorders and thus significantly improve the patient’s quality of life.