Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Aaron Beck developed cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in the 1960’s after several of his patients talked about things with him that he termed “cognitive distortions”. Those distortions were deemed to be negative ways of thinking. Beck believed if a patient could change the direction of their thinking, they would be able to eliminate or at least reduce their psychological issues. CBT is founded in research and clinical trials. The results of the research and trials culminated in what psychologists later on called an “empirically validated psychological treatment” that could be applied to a multitude of different conditions with positive results (Chand et al., 2022).                                                                            Cognitive behavior therapy is an effective method of psychological treatment and can be used to treat a large range of psychological conditions including depression, anxiety, marital problems, as well as several others (APA, 2017). It has also been found effective for treating some non-psychological conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain, and insomnia to list a few. To affect change, it usually focuses on changing unhelpful thoughts and behavioral patterns and what is currently happening in a client's life. CBT believes in changing the now and leaving the past in the past. In a clinical trial to study the effects of CBT on chronic pain (CBT-CP), Zahid et al. (2023) studied a select group of women of similar age, fitness, and pain level related to a medical diagnosis of fibromyalgia, it was found that CBT significantly reduced the symptoms of the condition allowing the participants to begin living a more productive and enjoyable life. Lopez-Pinar and Vicente-Gispert (2023) conducted a study that could be relevant to many school counselors today. The study examined the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy on two college students who had a clinical diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study also included a delivery system of video conferencing, which has long reaching significance, considering COVID-19 and post-COVID 19 continued uses of technology in many areas. Each of the two subjects had varying levels of dysfunction related to ADHD that was significantly affecting their academic and social success. During CBT, the students showed increased ability to organize and focus on their coursework, as well as in their social life. Both student’s reported continued success in a 6 month post-treatment follow up conference. While they stated they would have preferred to have face to face sessions, specifically because one of the symptoms of ADHD is being easily distracted by external stimuli and they were not able to build a relationship with the therapist as well virtually, they felt the trial was effective in producing cognitive behavior changes (Zahid et al., 2023).

Cognitive behavior therapy is an effective treatment to change a person's self-talk. It is a method that can be applied by any properly trained therapist or counselor in almost any setting, as evidenced by the above mentioned study. A non-mental health professional can utilize CBT related methods, and probably already do, on a regular basis and in general conversations. CBT is helping individuals learn to use positive thoughts and conversations to change how the mind responds to negative stimuli like stress, chronic pain, or marital issues, and many others (APA, 2017). A positive thinking person uses CBT as standard conversation, however, someone suffering from a cognitive disorder would be best served by a trained professional.

Cognitive behavior therapy was developed by Aaron Beck in the 1960’s after he identified what he termed “cognitive distortions” in conversations with his patients (Chand et al., 2022). His therapy was the beginning of what has become a well researched and utilized method of treatment for an increasing group of psychological and non-psychological disorders.

References

American Psychological Association. (2017). What is cognitive behavioral therapy? https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/cognitive-behavioral 

Chand, S., Kuckel, D., & Huecker, M. (2022). Cognitive Behavior Therapy. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29261869/

López-Pinar, C., & Vicente-Gispert, A. (2023). Online cognitive behavior therapy for two college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Clinical Case Studies, 22(1), 18–37. https://doi org.easydb.angelo.edu/10.1177/15346501221090267

Zahid, S., Dawood, S., Khan, S., & Sakhawat, W. (2023). Efficacy of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) in Managing Chronic Pain 

(CP) in Patients with Fibromyalgia. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry. Vol. 24(1), 1-8.