Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy – How Does It Work? Exercise and effectiveness

Proven content

Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy is one of the most proven methods of psychotherapy. During the therapy session, the patient learns about his fixed behaviors and way of thinking and works on them. It is a method with a wide range of applications and can be used in many disorders. What is the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy technique and who is it primarily aimed at?

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive behavioral therapy was established in the 60s. The method of therapy was developed by Aaron Beck, an American psychiatrist. Initially, it was used primarily to treat depression. However, it turned out to be effective in the treatment of other disorders as well, also in combination with pharmacological agents. It is a form of short-term therapy.

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? Currently, this type of psychotherapy is also referred to as CBT therapy. The basic premise is that a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors interact with each other, and thus patterns of behavior arise. Patterns can be inappropriate and interfere with normal functioning in society. According to this method, a man, through his experiences and emotions, involuntarily creates a form of behavior and adapts it to specific situations. It happens that certain models of behavior are copied from other people.

The world and various events are perceived by man in accordance with established patterns that may distort the reading of reality. Likewise, the reaction to certain situations proceeds in the way to which you are most used to. Cognitive behavioral therapy by working with a psychiatrist and exercising, it aims to make the patient aware of the framework he has created, including specific reactions and behaviors. During therapy, a person can change the distorted or somehow distorted perception of the environment and learn new forms of reaction to various situations. Consequently, the therapy helps in the treatment of many diseases and mental disorders and enables better functioning in society.

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How does cognitive behavioral psychotherapy work?

Relatively short duration of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy this is one of its advantages. Meetings with a psychotherapist take place once or twice a week, one session lasts no more than an hour, and the entire therapy, depending on the patient’s needs, takes from 6 weeks to half a year. To realize the speed of this form of treatment, it can be compared to psychodynamic psychotherapy, which can last up to 4 years.

1. Read more about psychodynamic psychotherapy – who is it suitable for, what it is and what its effects are.

It is important during the session cooperation of the psychotherapist with the patient. The specialist tries to thoroughly understand the problem that the patient is experiencing and find an individual solution for him. It focuses on the client’s recent experience, not their past. The therapist scrupulously analyzes the behavior, emotions and thoughts of the patient in a specific situation. Can distinguish:

1. stimulus, or in other words an example of a situation from the patient’s life,
2. the patient’s way of thinking about the experience
3. emotional reaction and physical feelings in a given situation,
4. the behavior of the patient in a specific case.

Thanks to this breakdown of the situation into smaller elements, it is possible to analyze the thoughts, emotions and behavior of the patient and find connections between them. Cognitive behavioral therapy is able to explain to the patient the irrationality of previous behavior or thoughts.

Exercises used in psychotherapy of CDP

During therapy, exercises are performed with the patient and various cognitive and behavioral techniques are used. Experimenting, trying new, different reactions to known situations in the patient’s life allows you to develop different, better habits. During therapy, the Socratic dialogue is used, among others, which aims to show the source of beliefs. The patient answers numerous questions from the therapist, and the therapist looks for contradictions in the statements of the interlocutor. As a result, a person is forced to rethink given issues, draw conclusions and independently discover problematic aspects of his reasoning.

During cognitive behavioral therapy Other exercises are also performed, such as stress instillation training, distraction, and distraction. Techniques such as writing down your thoughts to look at them from a distance and spot possible distortions of reality are helpful. Useful practical exercises include doing homework, that is, trying to perform certain actions in practice. In this way, we form habits and acquire new skills. Sometimes it is also advisable to face deep-seated fears. Such exposure is implemented gradually, thanks to which the patient has the opportunity to learn, step by step, reactions different than the previous ones.

The appropriate methodology of operation and specific sets of exercises helps to choose a psychotherapist after prior consultation with the patient.

Learn also about other types of psychotherapy:

1. Gestalt psychotherapy – who is it suitable for and what is it?
2. Psychoanalysis – theory, contemporary psychology

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – Who Will It Help?

Cognitive behavioral therapy is recommended in the treatment of various diseases and mental disorders. While many people are still concerned about these terms, there is a growing awareness in society that they are conditions like any other and that they can affect anyone. Calling them by their names and changing the approach to the subject is extremely important for people who are sick and unaware of the nature of their problems. Disregarding symptoms or pretending to be unrelated to the complex nature of the human psyche reduces the chances of improvement. This is what it is goal of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and other therapeutic forms – increasing the quality of life with various types of mental disorders.

The field of application of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy is very wide. Therapy is used to treat:

1. various types of phobias, primarily social phobias, including agoraphobia;
2. anxiety neurosis;
3. panic attacks;
4. eating disorders including bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa;
5. excessive stress;
6. compulsive obsessive disorder;
7. personality disorders;
8. sleep disturbance;
9. chronic fatigue or pain syndromes;
10. schizophrenia;
11. post-traumatic stress.

Most often, however, this form of therapy is used to treat depression.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression

Originally a cognitive-behavioral therapeutic method, it was used to treat depression and this form of psychotherapy is also popular today. Depression is a disease of civilization, and although many people abuse this term, in fact up to 350 million people in the world suffer from depression.

It is important to be aware that feeling sad or depressed is not the same as depression, but is usually a natural response to specific situations. However, if this condition persists for a long time, and is accompanied by other symptoms, a visit to a psychologist may be the solution. The sources of depression can be different, and sometimes its symptoms indicate other health problems, including thyroid disease (e.g. Hashimoto’s disease), neurological diseases, and mental disorders (e.g. personality disorders, schizophrenia).

The depressed patient has to work not only during therapy sessions, but also between them – by observing their thoughts, emotions and behaviors in everyday situations and trying to make changes. Effectiveness of treating depression thanks to CBT therapy significantly increases, and the risk of relapse is lower than with pharmacotherapy alone.

Not only severe or chronic depression is an indication for a visit to a psychotherapist. Also, when we cannot cope with our emotions, we experience anxiety, sleep problems or we cannot cope with difficult situations such as the death of a loved one, therapy can be helpful.

The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most clinically researched form of psychotherapy and is considered by most specialists to be the most effective therapy. This method of treatment is also much faster than the others. After the therapy, the patient gains greater self-awareness and is able to better control his behavior, which translates into an improvement in his quality of life and contacts with the environment. The rare recurrence of disorders is also a well-perceived advantage of the therapy.

It may turn out to be the hardest the initial stage of psychotherapyespecially if you feel discouraged and have trouble concentrating. However, gradual work with a therapist allows you to build a stable therapeutic relationship and achieve good results. However, it should not be forgotten that psychotherapy is not a closed-loop treatment that solves all problems. It helps to change the way of thinking and stabilize the life situation, but afterwards the patient must still use the skills developed during the sessions.