What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?

By:  Kimberly Swanson, MS-Psy, CNA

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an umbrella term that for many types therapeutic approaches that has some similar qualities (McLeod, 2015).  There are two early forms of CBT and they were (McLeod, 2015):

·         Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), which was created by  Albert Ellis during the 1950s;

·         Cognitive Therapy, was created by Aaron T. Beck during the 1960’s.

Rational emotional behavior therapy (REBT) is a behavioral technique that blends behavior and cognitive approaches for therapy (Grand Canyon University, 2014).  REBT is used in populations of individuals who have a problem with disputing negative irrational thinking (Grand Canyon University, 2014).  These individuals feel like that they have to be accepted by others in order to have feel self-worth.   They feel that they are the cause of other people’s actions that which causes negative actions.  They put extreme pressure on themselves that may lead to anxiety and depression.

According to Ellis (1999), there are three types of people who may need REBT:

1.            Individuals who put extreme pressure to do well to please others.  And if they do not reach others approvals they feel worthless, which can lead to anxiety, depression and are not asserting themselves.

2.            Individuals believe that people should treat them nice, fairly, and with consideration or they are not bad.  This person tends to hold grudges, get angry, become hostile, and can become violent. 

3.            This is when a person has an expectation when it comes to certain predicaments situations things should be fair, simple, and life should not be filled with struggles.  This mind set is linked to having feelings of no hope, procrastinating, and having addictive behaviors.

The diagnostic mental health categories that would use REBT and behavioral theories are for anxiety, depression and addictions.  The reason why REBT and other behavioral theories would be used is to assist in changing negative or counter-productive behaviors through these therapeutic techniques.

Individual and Cultural Diversity Issues  When using REBT and Other Behavioral Theories.

There are some issues with individuals and cultural diversity when it comes to REBT and cognitive therapy.  According to Pretzer (2013) culture has a wide range of complexity.  The therapist must take into consideration their own cultural background and their client’s cultural background to see if it may affect their working relationship between each other (Pretzer, 2013). 

Pretzer  (2013) mentions that it is important that a counselor understands their client’s dilemmas and situation;  having clarity and being able to relate  regardless of their personal views is very important.  In addition, Pretzer (2013) also states that it is essential for the therapist to have an awareness of their own cultural influence and is able to identify and address them when conducting therapy session with their clients.

References

Ellis, A.  (1999). How to make yourself happy and remarkably less disbursable.  Atascadero, CA:  Impact

Grand Canyon University (2014).  Alternative to classical theories (lecture notes).  Retrieved from https://lc-grad2.gcu.edu

McLeod, S.  (2015).  Cognitive behavioral therapy.  Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-therapy.html

Pretzer, J.  (2013). Cultural differences and cognitive therapy.  Behavior Online.  Retrieved from http://behavior.net/2013/07/cultural-differences-and-cognitive-therapy/.

Copyright in 2016 by ©Messenger Publishing, Inc.

How to cite this article:

Swanson, K.  (2016). What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?  Psychology Essence (Messenger Publishing, Inc.).  Retrieved from http://psychologyessence.blogspot.com/2016/09/what-is-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-cbt.html.