CBT

Question 1

What is the aim of CBT?

Answer 1

Challenge negative maladaptive thoughts and replace them with healthy thinking. Often ppl are unaware their thinking is maladaptive.

Question 2

Main components of CBT: Dysfunctional thought diary

Answer 2

• Clients write down automatic negative thoughts associated with unpleasant emotional events and rate.
• Write rational response and rate.
• Re-rate belief in automatic negative thought.

Question 3

Main components of CBT: Challenging dysfunctional thoughts

Answer 3

• Challenge dysfunctional automatic negative thoughts by asking:
• Where is the evidence of X?
• What is the worst that could happen if X were true?
• Challenge thoughts to replace with more constructive ones

Question 4

Main components CBT: Pleasant activity scheduling

Answer 4

• Plan a pleasant activity a day to engage in.
• Something that will give them a sense of achievement or break from routine.
• Induce pos emotions and detract from neg thinking patterns.
• Behavioural activation

Question 5

Effectiveness of CBT: strengths

Answer 5

• Supporting research. Cahill et al (2003) 71% fully completed showed sig reduction in symptoms. Improve quality of life. Effectively able to treat maladaptive thinking patterns that cause psychological disorders.
• More ethical than others like drug therapy. Jarrett et al (1999) found CBT just as effective as drug therapy BUT no neg side effects and can be implemented quickly so more ethical especially in cases with children.

Question 6

Effectiveness of CBT: weaknesses

Answer 6

• Effectiveness dependent on therapist competence. Kuyken and Tsivrikos (2009) up to 15% Effectiveness result of therapist. Important to spend time choosing a therapist.

Question 7

Ethics of CBT: strengths

Answer 7

• Attempts to cure cause of disorder instead of just treating symptoms. Tries to make long lasting improvements to remove symptoms. Offers ‘total fix’.

Question 8

Ethics of CBT: Weaknesses

Answer 8

• Patient blame. Implies client is to blame for psychological disorders due to faulty thinking patterns. Could affect self-esteem and cause harm. Could neg impact.
• Clients with depression may not be ‘irrational’ just more realistic. Alloy and Ambrahamson (1979) suggest they see things for what they are. Everyone else uses rose tinted glasses. Should we change thought patterns that are more accurate?

Question 9

Apply CBT to assumptions

Answer 9

• Internal mental processes- may pay more attention to neg things or perceive things in more neg way.
• Schemas- patients have neg self schemas. CBT allows these to be challenged.
• Computer analogy- challenge ‘process’ and how they think of an event/themselves to change ‘output’.