Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy is a psychotherapeutic approach aimed at changing a person's ability to evaluate himself, strategies and directions to overcome problems related to his thoughts and behavior. The founder of this direction is the American psychotherapist A. Beck (born in 1921). Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy was created on the basis of cognitive psychotherapy (eng. cognitive therapy, 1967). CBP is formed on the basis of 2 different schools, i.e. cognitive and behavioral psychotherapy:
In CBP, the following triad is distinguished:
Cognition consists of concepts such as recalling information, processing in the mind, reasoning and understanding.
Conation consists of such concepts as goal-directed movement, motivation, instinct, desire and will.
Affect consists of emotional reactions and mood.
KBP is looking for a solution to the following goals and objectives:
Finding the cause of cognitive errors and behavioral disorders.
Correction of the pathological thoughts that have settled in the brain and the behavior disorders caused by them.
Prevention of relapse.
Increasing the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy.
Finding a solution to socio-psychological problems.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is mainly used in obsessive-compulsive disorders, anxiety-phobic disorders, neurosis of thoughts that do not leave the brain, behavior disorders, hypochondriac neurosis, sports medicine.
CBP is primarily aimed at eliminating negative thoughts that settle in the brain and torment the patient, that is, feelings of guilt, self-deprecation, and thoughts. The patient is under the supervision of a psychotherapist until he learns to perform the technique independently.
Techniques of psychotherapeutic treatment.
The patient's eyes are closed. He is instructed to pay attention to the smallest details of the bad thoughts that have settled in his mind. It doesn't matter if those negative thoughts are important or not. In this way, all thoughts are gathered in one place. When all bad thoughts are concentrated in the brain, the patient points to the psychologist with his finger (for example, raises the index finger).
As soon as the patient signals, the psychotherapist gives the command "STOP" in a bold and loud voice. Then the psychologist asks the patient what came to his mind after this word. Usually, at this time, the patient's negative thoughts are extinguished and disappear. If there is no positive result, that is, bad thoughts do not disappear from the brain, the exercise is repeated several times. This exercise is also given as homework. The patient can repeat this exercise by himself at home.
The technique of filling the psychological gap.
The task after erasing the thoughts that have settled in the brain is to replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. If this task is not performed, negative thoughts will return to the brain. In science, there is a concept called anticipation. Anticipation is the fear that fearful thoughts will return. In order not to observe this situation, it is necessary to fill the psychological gap with positive thoughts in each session. Otherwise, the patient "talks to himself" through negative thoughts in his brain. This situation increases the obsession and the patient is again tormented by painful thoughts.
After the psychotherapeutic treatment, the patient is given homework. Starting today, you should talk to yourself only through positive thoughts. At the beginning of psychotherapeutic exercises, he creates a scenario of "Constructing a positive conversation" with the patient. To do this, various roles are devised. Depending on the obtained results, this script will be gradually improved.
The method of filling the psychological gap is implemented according to the scheme developed by Albert Ellis. ABC-method is used for this purpose. A – the factor that caused the situation; V – an automatically arising imagination; S – emotional response reaction
Algorithm for working with AVS. 1. The problem is asked; 2. The distribution of the problem is started; 3. S and A are graded; 4. The relationship between V and S is explained; 5. V is evaluated; 6. V and S are connected; 7. The level of understanding of the patient is studied; 8. Homework is given.
Supporters of cognitive psychotherapy believe that all human problems are caused by negative thinking. The problem begins with the interpretation of external situations by a person according to the following scheme: external situation (stimuli) → cognitive system → interpretation (imagination) → emotion or behavior. "Our thoughts are reflected in our emotions, our emotions change our behavior, our behavior shows who we are, and others judge us based on it.
A. Beck (1967) said that the problem is not that this world is bad, but how much we perceive it to be bad. According to A. Beck, cognitive-behavioral therapy is a set of methods aimed at changing thinking and behavior based on a certain system. The basis of this method is the technique of training the patient based on correct thinking and thus changing his behavior.
The main tasks before the psychotherapist are: 1) to identify the automatic thoughts that torment a person to live in society; 2) explain to the client the need to get rid of these thoughts; 3) change the patient's behavior in a positive direction by teaching him to work with positive thoughts.
Steps to identify automatic thoughts:
The first step. The patient must be able to search for and consolidate the automatic thoughts that have settled in his brain, which always torment him and change his behavior;
The second step. After identifying automatic thoughts, the patient should tell them aloud to the psychotherapist one after the other;
The third step. A psychotherapist listens carefully to the patient, looks at his expression, observes the patient's behavior and notes the level of painful thoughts on paper.
Automatic thoughts are sudden thoughts that force a person to talk to themselves. Automatic thoughts exist in every person, and whether these thoughts are painful or painless depends on their content. If you have negative thoughts, they "occupy your brain, chew your mind" and become a source of heavy emotions. As a result of this, your behavior will change, and accordingly, the attitude of people towards you will change and a chain reaction will occur.