Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Techniques

The cognitive behavior therapy has been used for the treatment of various disorders of mood, personality, anxiety, substance abuse, etc. which are associated with mental health. The 'Aaron Beck Cognitive Behavior Therapy' is one such therapeutic approach used in dealing with these problems. Let us understand the different techniques that are being used to sort out the above mentioned mental illnesses.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
It is a therapy which takes a psycho therapeutic approach to solve problems that are related to behaviors, dysfunctional emotions and cognitions by means of a systematic and goal-oriented procedure. The idea around which the CBT techniques have developed is that, OUR OWN and no external factors are responsible for the behaviors we exhibit and feelings we experience. The cognitive behavioral therapy techniques are time bound and the average number of sessions required to complete the therapy is 16. Read more on cognitive behavior therapy and psychotherapy.

CBT Techniques

Cognitive Rehearsal: In this technique, the patient is asked to recall a problematic situation of the past. The therapist and patient work together to find out the solution to the problem or a way in which the difficult situation if occurs in the future may be sorted out.

Validity Testing: It is one of the CBT techniques in which the therapist tests the validity of beliefs or thoughts of the patient. Initially, the patient is allowed to defend his viewpoint by means of an objective evidence. The faulty nature or invalidity of the beliefs of the patient is exposed if he is unable to produce any kind of objective evidence.

Writing in a Journal: It is the practice of maintaining a diary to keep an account of the situations that arise in day-to-day life. The thoughts which are associated with these situations and the behavior exhibited in response to them are also mentioned in the diary. The therapist along with the patient reviews the diary/journal and finds out the maladaptive thought pattern and how do they actually affect the behavior of an individual.

Guided Discovery: The objective/purpose behind using this technique is to help the patient and enable him understand his cognitive distortions.

Modeling: It is one of the cognitive behavioral therapy techniques in which the therapists performs role-playing exercises which are aimed at responding in an appropriate way to overcome difficult situations. The patient makes use of this behavior of the therapist as a model in order to solve the problems he comes across.

Homework: The homework is actually a set of assignments given by therapists to patients. The patient may have to take notes while a session is being conducted, review the audiotapes of a particular session or he may have to read article/books that are related to the therapy.

Aversive Conditioning: Among the different CBT techniques used by therapists, the aversive conditioning technique makes use of dissuasion for lessening the appeal of a maladaptive behavior. The patient while being engaged in a particular behavior or thought for which he has to be treated, is exposed to an unpleasant stimulus. Thus, the unpleasant stimulus gets associated with such thoughts/behaviors and then the patient exhibits an aversive behavior towards them.

Systematic Positive Reinforcement: The systematic positive reinforcement is one of the cognitive behavioral therapy techniques in which certain (positive) behaviors of a person are rewarded with a positive reinforcement. A reward system is established for the reinforcement of certain positive behaviors. Just like positive reinforcement helps in encouraging a particular behavior, withholding the reinforcement deliberately is useful in eradicating a maladaptive behavior.

The CBT techniques described in the above article are useful from the point of view of solving many of the problems which occur from maladaptive thoughts and behaviors. The therapists can use these cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to cure most of the problems related to psychology in a time-bound manner.