Essay On Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Alleviation of behavioral and cognitive problems has been a focus of professionals for centuries. Today many of these problems have been dealt with by psychotropic medications, however the lengthy trial and error method and undesirable side effects of medications has encouraged many patients to seek psychotherapy. The most frequently recommended form of psychotherapy today is cognitive-behavioral therapy. To develop a deeper understanding of cognitive behavioral therapy we shall examine behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, and how these are combined during treatment to give effective and lasting results.
Behavioral Therapy
Behavioral theorists believe that almost all of human behavior is learned and thus can …show more content…

Relaxation therapy is a method used by many psychologists to help patients relax during periods of high anxiety such as a panic attack or even during periods of stress or pain. Relaxation exercises help keep the physical symptoms of anxiety under control and in turn help the individual feel more in control, and think more clearly.
Moreover behavioral therapy is used to help patients break out of the cycle of avoidance, as negative reinforcement is key the maintenance of anxiety disorders. Exposure therapy involves exposing a client to an anxiety provoking stimuli enough times to cause desensitization. Usually the therapist will recommend starting off with the lowest anxiety provoking stimuli and work the patient’s way up to the most anxiety provoking stimuli until desensitization is achieved.
There are many types of behavioral therapies including Response Shaping to shape new behaviors, Behavioral Activation to increase overall activity in patients with depression, and many more. Each behavioral therapy is tailored with a specific behavioral goal in mind. Now that we have a clear understanding of behavioral therapy, and a few of the different types of behavioral intervention, we shall examine the cognitive component of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Cognitive …show more content…

To illustrate, a case study of a patient with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) will be used from the textbook Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology second edition (16-30, Gorenstein & Comer). Obsessive-compulsive disorder is made up of two parts: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted and repetitive thoughts, urges, or images that don’t go away and cause excessive anxiety. Compulsions are meant to reduce the anxiety caused by obsessions. Compulsions may be behaviors like washing, cleaning, or checking. Some compulsions are more cognitive in nature such as counting things or repeating phrases in their mind. Like most psychological disorders there is both a behavioral and cognitive component to

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