Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is where we look at the thoughts of the person. Often times our thoughts or cognitions cause us to behave in the way we do. Cognitive behavioural therapy is about looking at the way the person is thinking so that by changing the thinking subsequently, the person’s behaviour will change.
Patricia will explore with the client the thoughts and beliefs regarding a certain situation through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Often times a client will have no problem recalling the thoughts process before the situation happened. A lot of times these thoughts are negative.
Many clients experience the same negative thoughts every time they undergo a stressful event. These thoughts come automatically from deep fears and feelings of insecurities they have inside of them, about being rejected, blamed or abandoned in the past by others. They sometimes mis judge another person’s behaviour, and jump to the wrong conclusions in the absence of any true evidence. As a result, these clients may be prone to anxiety attacks, depression or suppressed anger when conversing with others.
C.B.T – HOW DOES IT WORK?
Initially it is very important to set up the therapeutic alliance. It is important that the client feels held and supported during counselling.
Effective Cognitive Behavioural Therapy involves the client working with Patricia to talk openly about what happened what were the thought processes that offset the behaviour. Patricia will hold the client as they go through painful memories from the past. By Patricia’s presence in a respectful and supportive way to the person who is recalling painful memories this can help this person to change. The experience alone can bring about change.
Patricia may also challenge the client to become aware and take control over the way they continue to hurt themselves by replaying hurtful thoughts from the past. Recovery may also require a client to adopt to a new way of solving practical problems. Goal setting, problem solving, assertive training, decision making, are skills that Patricia will incorporate into the therapy. The Client is given coping mechanisms to deal with situations as they arise.
Patricia will ask the Client to keep a check of events during the week that cause distress, noting the negative feelings, and automatic thoughts and what the client did to overcome the upset. The following week at therapy Patricia will examine the events of the week and look more deeply at what happened, what were the negative thoughts and feelings that brought on the upset. Patricia will then begin to explore with the client the thread that linked this situation to the past.
When a client observes his own negative thinking and actions and accepts what is happening is contributing to their present difficulties, a client will subsequently become more eager to act in a different way. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is effective in overcoming negative thinking by looking back at the past and finding the thread to the thoughts and then changing these thoughts to more positive ones. C.B.T. involves the client working with Patricia to change the cognitions that result in the behaviour.
Recently C.B.T. has been applied in a variety of medical settings to good effect. It is a very adaptable and flexible approach that can be used with clients faced with different problems for example, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, and rheumatoid arthritis. In each condition techniques were taught so that patients could challenge misconceptions regarding their conditions, and encourage them to take action as opposed to staying passive. Results shown indicated that their experience of their condition had altered and changed for the betterment of their health.
Patricia would have no problem recommending this therapy as a solution to a client’s problem, simply because she has seen the results and knows that it works. C.B.T. without doubt is the most effective therapy for helping clients change the way they think, which then changes their behaviour.