Cognitive Behavior Therapy Case Study

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“Cognitive-behavior therapy refers to those approaches inspired by the work of Albert Ellis (1962) and Aaron Beck (1976) that emphasize the need for attitude change to promote and maintain behavior modification” (Nichols, 2013, p.185). A fictitious case study will next be presented in order to describe ways in which cognitive behavioral therapy can be used to treat the family members given their presenting problems. Sue, 36, and Tom, 39, present for an initial consultation along with their two children-- Alice, 15, and Ted, 7. Sue does most of the talking, while Alice sits slumped in her chair with a sullen look on her face. Ted looks anxious and stays close to his mother. They have come because Sue is concerned about her children. Alice’s …show more content…

Alice has been demonstrating negative behaviors for the past year. Cognitive behavior therapy does not focus on the past, but rather on the present. Thus, the therapist will find out what thoughts and feelings are related to the behaviors that Alice has been expressing. The therapist can introduce the family with the concept of token economy so that they can reward Alice when she achieves better grades. This way it can motivate her to try harder in her studies. Another technique that would help the Sanders family is to create a contingency contracting to help the parents make some changes in the way they behave or react to Alice behaviors when Alice makes the changes they want from her. Just as each is working on a plan to improve their behaviors, a contingency management plan will be created by the therapist that the family will follow that clearly states what rewards and consequences will be given based on the behaviors (Nichols, 2013). For instance, if Alice goes out without asking for permission or comes home after the curfew she will get her cell phone taken away. Rewards should also be readily available for Alice to achieve which will help reinforce or help shape the positive …show more content…

Cognitive behavior therapy has been proven to work in many different areas and presenting problems. One area that was not mention above that would significantly improve the outcome of any given therapy is the willingness of the client to accept treatment. The goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to focus on the present and to help the client identify their own strengths, learn new tools or techniques that they can use on their everyday life, and to be able to identify the different thought, emotional, and behavioral patterns that lead to undesirable

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