In this research I am going to start discussing the history and development of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Then next, I will explain the various Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) disorders, including depression and panic disorders (Dysvik, Kvaløy & Furnes, 2012). Finally, I will discuss the evidence based on the existence of this specific psychological medical care and its model.
History And Development Of CBT
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) rose from Behavioural Therapy (BT) and was discovered by psychologist Dr. Aaron T. Beck in the 1960s at the University of Pennsylvania. Its invention was based on how subjects felt about the world, the surroundings (nature) and themselves. To understand the development and History of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), I will focus on its origin that can be drawn from Behavioural and Cognitive principles (Dysvik, Kvaløy & Furnes, 2012).
The behavioral method has been used in the medical curing of patients with mental problems since the 19th century. Behavior involves what we do as significant in keeping psychological situations. The behavioral principle is based on the thoughts that characters for people can actually be evaluated, developed and altered. It further states that our reactions to nature pictures and images determine the characters that we possess (Galeazzi & Mazzini, 2004).
The desire for efficient short-term therapy in relation to depression and panic disorder concurred with the starting up of a behavioral study on how individuals should gain knowledge and skills on how to act and respond emotionally to these disorders. As result of problem the psychoanalysis therapy that existed before was disputed and gave rose to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) that averts that behaviour can have a great effect on various feelings and thoughts (Galeazzi & Meazzini, 2004).
The cognitive method is another principle that gave rise to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Cognition refers to the psychology of perception, learning and reasoning. This definition clearly shows that an individual’s emotions and responses are influenced by cognition (Dysvik, Kvaløy & Furnes, 2012). Therefore, a person’s aroused suffering is due to the feelings and thoughts about an occurring event instead of the actually occurring event.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Aaron T. Beck, the founder of CBT, realized that his patients had inner negotiations that went through their minds when he was conducting his research (Galeazzi & Meazzini, 2004). He found out that his subjects were talking to themselves, though they didn’t reveal to him fully about their thoughts. For instance, an individual might think to themselves, “The lecture knows that I am the poor performer in his class; what might he be thinking about me?” Through these thoughts, he/she starts to feel anxious. According to the illustration above, it explains the core of cognitive principle in that various cognitions give rise to different thoughts.
In the time principle, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) considers that psychological disorders are in a particular continuum but not in various proportions completely (Galeazzi & Meazzini, 2004). Therefore, psychological problems should be seen as arising from hyperbolized situations of normal procedures instead of diseased states that are very different from normal processes. In relation to this principle, mental problems can happen to anyone instead of eccentric peculiarity, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) applies therapist same to patients (Dysvik, Kvaløy & Furnes, 2012).
The “here” and “now” principle focuses on what can be done to improve the patient’s current rather than focusing on the causes of suffering and its signs. Behavioral Therapy (BT) focused more on tackling the symptoms of anxiety and depression, but later on, psychoanalysts proposed that treating signs directly for patients with mental problems had a positive improvement and, therefore, their mental state.
Generally, Aaron T. Beck had a clear understanding of the significance of the connection between thoughts and feelings and came up with the term “Automatic thoughts in Cognitive Therapy” to discuss the different emotional ideas that come to an individual’s brain or mind. He found that even if people weren’t informed of these feelings, they could study them and be able to report them verbally.
Through his research, he discovered that people who were angered possessed poor feelings that seemed to be unimaginable; through discovering these thoughts, sustainable and positive effects can be found. To be precise, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is important to people as it comes out of these automatic thoughts and experiments working towards improving the patient’s medical condition.
In combining the principles, behavioral treatment was of importance in treating neuroticism personality traits. Neuroticism people are those individuals who are pessimistic despite they are facing challenges. Neuroticism entails an individual’s emotional stability and general regulation of temper. Hence, behavioral therapies acted as a treatment for people with neurotic disorders (Öst, 2008)
. Slowly, after the emergence of cognitive treatment came in, psychiatrists started to combine them together to ensure issues such as panic disorder or anxiety were treated successfully. Even though all these methods of feelings and thoughts have various stressful ideas, both of them are interested in what is happening to the individual here and now. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is concerned with what is taking place with the patient or subject at that particular moment (Galeazzi & Meazzini, 2004).
Studies show that CBT has been helpful in a number of ways. Some of its importance includes regulating emotions; quite a number of health conditions involve very deep and unavoidable mental feelings. Through this type of treatment it has helped the subjects to be in control of these thoughts. Another advantage of this treatment is that it has assisted the subjects to get well on with the situation. Bereavement can cause very intense psychological challenges; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has been important to these individuals as it has helped to overcome the situation.
CBT has helped people to solve personal disputes or grudges amongst them. One of the main principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is to improve the means of communication (Steven D., 2011). Well and improved means of communication help to solve personal and various types of relationships such as marriages, friendships and families. It has helped in the treatment of touchable illness – CBT can help people take care of nuisances and physical psychology difficulties (Mavrides & Nemeroff, 2013).
Through the knowledge and skills obtained in this treatment, the individuals who are suffering from this mental disorder can help prevent some of the signs and symptoms associated with their situations (Öst, 2008). Also, this therapy has helped people who are unable to use drugs as prescribed by the psychologist. Finally, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is of assistance to people suffering from eating disorders, those who have phobias and those with chronic fatigue disorders.
Though there are many disorders that exist, such as anger, depression, and panic disorder, these are the main challenges addressed by the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model as they are two faces of one disorder (Cuijpers et al., 2015). Depression refers to a mental state that is characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity (Galeazzi & Meazzini, 2004). Beck describes that people who are suffering from depression have negative attitudes towards themselves, to the world and about what will happen in the future. A depressed person views that he is worthless, stupid, unlovable and a total failure. When he looks at the world, he or she sees life as a periodical experiment, and nothing of significance comes into existence (Galeazzi & Mazzini, 2004). A subject who is suffering from depression sees negatively in the future in that nothing he does in his life will make an impact in the future. As a result of this thinking, it gives a stoppage of the mental, cognitive and behavioral indication.
Depression Treatment
CBT is a major type of dialogue treatment that works very well in the treatment of people suffering from depression (Steven D., 2011). It works very efficiently when the level of depression for the person is small or in control. Studies show that it can also treat some extreme cases when the psychologist has more expertise and knowledge in the area. Research also proves that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can be more effective when the therapist combines it with drugs (Steven D., 2011).
Treating a person who is depressed requires educating them first and making them aware that it is not their fault; they may be suffering from cancer or being blind as a result of not seeing what is surrounding them (Cuijpers et al., 2015). The patients see that the problems that they are encountering are natural due to their failure to look for solutions to the problems they are encountering. The initial step to cognitive–behavioral treatment (psychotherapy) is to examine the emotions and thoughts of how somebody thinks about themselves and their considerations (Steven D., 2011).
Developing an understanding of your thinking ways, principles of the thinking ways and taking various means to alter somebody’s thinking ways and conditions are the major constitutes of treatment of a person who is suffering from depression. Beck recommends that it is important to change our thoughts and feelings in order to get what we want to be like (Cuijpers et al., 2015).
Also, for a success treatment psychotherapy with clients suffering from depression, they should devote themselves and be committed to treatment rules for them to gain their normal mental states. Individuals should be proud of themselves for the steps that they have taken, starting from exploring answers on the internet and making a date with a psychologist for guidance and counseling (Cuijpers et al., 2015).
Anxiety Treatment
The second disorder that is tackled by psychotherapy treatment is anxiety or panic disorder (Mavrides & Nemeroff, 2013). Anxiety refers relatively state of persistent worry and nervousness that occurs in various types of mental disorders that come with a state of panic. To be precise it refers to the perception of high danger of undesirable consequence. When a person is in panic, there is frequent misinterpretation of various ideas (Steven D., 2011).
For health anxiety, some people tend to misinterpret some type of illness that the disease they are suffering from may eventually lead to death in them. Other types of anxiety include social anxiety disorder, which involves people seeing others as stupid and worthless, among others. Finally, anxiety or state of panic disorder is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which comes as a result of thoughts of trying to stop danger to oneself or to other individuals.
Anybody who is suffering from this state of panic is more often harbored with too much worry that regulates how their day runs (Steven D., 2011). They always find challenges in conducting their usual daily work as they cannot concentrate. People who are in distress from the above are likely to acquire assistance from the therapist. By doing this it will help them gain their normal situations and stop living in panic. In the absence of treatment, people can feel hopeless and distressed (Cuijpers et al., 2015).
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), also known as psychotherapy, is one of the proven and recommended treatments for panic disorder. Treatment related to psychotherapy will assist those who are obsessed with anxiety as it changes their thoughts and feelings (Steven D., 2011). It also recommends that they be strong throughout the situation and come out strong out of it.
To overcome anxiety, the therapists teach the patients the causes and symptoms of being the victims of anxiety. Teaching goes on uo how to control the situation of panic and come out very strong (Mavrides & Nemeroff, 2013). One of the major symptoms that comes to a patient that is in anxiety is that they feel out of control and see that death is approaching them and will never they again manage their body again (Cuijpers et al., 2015). Generally, a good number of people tend to avoid any other circumstances that cause another panic after the original one, hence becoming one of the situations that one carries to protect oneself.
Individuals who are suffering from panic disorder are advised to seek a psychiatrist as soon as possible and get advice on how to cope with the situation. By doing this, they will gain control over their situation and not allow anxiety to take part of their life (Steven D., 2011).
Evidence On Psychological Therapy
This section involves the study on what is the effectiveness of this model and what makes psychotherapy theory an actual model for treating patients with mental problems. Studies and research have shown that psychotherapy is supported as a treatment of psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety among adults. Convergence behavioral treatment has gained its ability and believability due to various professional campaigns and political forces such as managed health care and evolutions in biological psychopathology (Phillips, 2003).
Another reliable source supporting psychotherapy treatment is the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which is a body that is managed by the government that helps conduct research on the efficacy of various treatments and gives a detailed report about particular treatments that are supposed to be incorporated to National Health Service (NHS). Several reports from this agency have shown that cognitive behavioral treatment is a major medical cure for many mental-related problems is well achieved (Phillips, 2003).
To ensure the effectiveness and efficiency in psychotherapy treatment use of other medical treatment drugs, such pharmacology makes it one of the highly qualified methods in taking care of patients with mental problems. In addition, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), an important agency dealing with finance for psychological therapy analysis, has adjudicated to use a statistical analysis approach in pharmaceutical research to do an analysis of psychological therapy, with the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (Bisson et al., 2008). These findings show that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is psychotherapy with the most concrete and broad evidence of its efficiency and effectualness (Phillips, 2003).
Evidence On Psychological Therapy Model
Truly speaking, it would be a false belief to believe that showing the effectiveness of the treatment gives clear evidence that the theory exists (Quilty, McBride & Bagby, 2008). By doing this, we will be lying to ourselves, and therefore, the efficiency of psychotherapy as a cure doesn’t show clearly that the psychological therapy model is true. But according to, Beck, the founder of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), gives detailed information on the empirical equality of the evidence of the psychological therapy model (Quilty, McBride & Bagby, 2008).
He gives a conclusion that despite the available resources that show the negative outcome of depression, there is evidence of a high increase in negative thoughts and feelings about an individual, the world and the future (Bisson et al., 2008). Through his psychoanalysis, he found out that particular thinking about failure and hopelessness, especially those individuals who suffer from panic disorder. Also, there is evidence from the cognitive principles that can be found untruthful in some tests that show that with depressed individuals, there is a flashback of negative results and enhanced negative opinions (Quilty, McBride & Bagby, 2008).
In conclusion, the origin and development of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) was founded by Aaron T. Beck. It rose as a result of Behavioural Therapy (BT) that existed in the early 19th century. Psychological therapy is explained in various principles, including the behavioral principle and cognitive principle (Bisson et al., 2008). The disorders that psychological therapy addresses include depression and panic (anxiety) disorders and how they enhance their treatment (Quilty, McBride & Bagby, 2008). Also, there is evidence that psychological therapy and its model exist.
References
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