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Here is an essay on ‘Cognitive Psychotherapy’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Cognitive Psychotherapy’ for school and college students.
Essay on Cognitive Psychotherapy
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Definition of Cognitive Psychotherapy
- Essay on the Classification of Cognitive Therapy
- Essay on the Applications of Cognitive Psychotherapy
Essay # 1. Definition of Cognitive Psychotherapy:
It is a group of psychological treatments which share the aim of bringing about improvement in psychiatric disorder by altering maladaptive thinking.
It is a brief method of psychotherapy developed over the last two decades by Aaron T. Beck and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania. It is similar to behaviour therapy in that it aims at direct removal of symptoms rather than resolution of underlying conflicts as in psychodynamic psychotherapies.
Unlike traditional behavioural approaches, however, the subjective experience of the patient is a major focus of attention in cognitive psychotherapy as in the psychoanalytically oriented treatments.
The important characteristics of cognitive therapy are given in Table 34.5.
Essay # 2. Classification of Cognitive Therapy:
i. Techniques Intended to Interrupt Cognition:
These aim to stop sequence of intrusive thoughts in the hope that thoughts will not start again immediately. Because intrusive thoughts are difficult to arrest, another technique ‘thought stopping ‘is used in which a sudden, intense but short lived distraction is given, the common being-just shouting aloud to stop, then the patient repeats silently; the other method used is by applying painful stimuli.
ii. Techniques Intended to Counterbalance Cognitions:
Here the intrusive thoughts are counter balanced by another thought produced consciously. Meichenbaum (1977) gave three stage treatment for this.
First Stage:
Patient is helped to conceptualize his problem as one in which his thoughts are important but inaccurate.
Second Stage:
Patient is encouraged to consider how his thoughts may be increasing his symptoms or interfering with his efforts to cope up with the problem.
Third Stage:
Patient is helped to find appropriate alternative statements.
iii. Techniques intended to alter cognitions:
The change in attitudes and beliefs is done thereby to eliminate or change intrusive thoughts. Beck (1976) devised 3 different stages.
First Stage:
Patient is encouraged to identify maladaptive cognition.
Second Stage:
Patient is helped to identify logical error which allows these maladaptive cognition to persist.
Third Stage:
Alteration given challenging the underlying assumptions which are thoughts to generate the maladaptive cognitions.
iv. Techniques for problem solving:
Patient is helped to resolve stressful life-problem directly. The problem identified is divided into manageable parts, thinking of alternative solutions, selective the best, carry it out and see the results.
Essay # 3. Applications of Cognitive Psychotherapy:
(a) Depressive disorder:
Beck (1963) described two types of cognitive disorder in depression.
i. Intrusive Thoughts:
Intrusive Thoughts e.g., low self-regard, self- criticism, self-blame, ideas of deprivation, injunctions and wish to escape or die.
ii. Cognitive Disorders:
Arbitrary inference:
The process of forming an interpretation of a situation, event or experience when there is no factual evidence to support conclusion or when conclusion is contrary to evidence e.g., Patient sees a friend in the street who fails to acknowledge him, he thinks his friends do not like him anymore.
a. Selective Abstraction:
The process of focusing on a detail taken out of context, ignoring other more salient features of the situation, and conceptualizing the whole experience on the basis of this element e.g., teacher in his class sees two students bored, feels his class in not liked by all students.
b. Over Generalization:
To draw a general conclusion about ability, performance or worth on the basis of single incident e.g., A mother spoiling a dish feels that she is a bad mother.
c. Magnification or minimization:
The errors in evaluation which are so gross as to constitute distortions e.g., person commits an unimportant error, thinks that his employer has noticed it and he will be terminated of the job. (Magnification); A depressed patient makes a great effort to help his friend in trouble, yet fails to accept that he is doing his best (Minimisation).
d. Personalization:
There is tendency to relate external events to oneself when there is no basis for making such connection.
e. Dichotomous thinking:
Patient tends to make interpretation on a black or white basis. Patient reads in the newspaper that few students are investigated for theft, he thinks that next, he will be investigated.
Beck summarized that these distortions lead to cognitive disorder in the form of cognitive triad- negative view of self; negative interpretation of unreal experience and negative view of the future. There are two other important changes in the depressed patient relevant to the treatment—helplessness and hopelessness and impaired responsiveness to positive reinforcement.
Beck devised the following cognitive techniques:
i. Activity schedule:
The depressed patients are apathetic and inactive and derive less pleasure from usual activities. So encourage everyday routine such as household work, hobbies, requiring little intellectual ability and also attain small pleasure like walking with a pet dog or eating favourite food.
ii. Identify depressive thoughts:
Identify the recurrent intrusive thoughts that increase depression. This can be done by either writing or discussing freely with the therapist or role-playing to recognize the thoughts.
iii. Answering negative thoughts:
The patients are encouraged to examine evidence for and against his ideas and beliefs and in doing so to become aware of these logical errors and then correct them. Therapist restricts his role to that of asking questions.
iv. Problem solving:
Patient may need some help in making out solution to persistent life problems. The therapist function as guide (to enable their patients to acquire understanding that will help him to cope with stress) and as a catalyst (to promote a kind of corrective experience to increase the adaptive skills).
(b) Other indications:
i. Anxiety neurosis.
ii. Phobias (especially agoraphobia).
iii. Eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa).
iv. Problems involving bereavement, divorce, redundancy at work etc.
v. Alcoholic patient