cognitive behavioural therapy Frhd

Cognitive behavioural therapy

therapy that helps people identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours

CBT characteristics

short term practical therapy

problem focused and goal oriented

can be used for a variety of disorders

based on learning and cognitive theory

CBT assumptions

• thoguhts infleuce feelings and behaviours

• thoughts can be noticed, monitored, changed

• internal dialouge/ beliefs causes problems

• changing thinking can help change behaviour

classical conditioning

Leaning by association

You learn to react to something because it’s been paired with something else before.

Easyexample:

1. You smell pizza → you feel hungry (this is natural).

2. Now imagine a bell rings every time pizza appears.

3. After a while, just hearing the bell makes you feel hungry—even without pizza.

Your brain connected bell = food

operant conditioning

a learning process that uses rewards or punishment to change behaviour

reinforcement

Definition: Makes behaviour more likely.

• Positive: add something good (cookie for homework)

• Negative: take away something bad (stop nagging when task do

punishment

Definition: Makes behaviour less likely.

• Positive: add something bad (timeout for hitting sibling)

• Negative: take away something good (lose phone for breaking curfew)

automatic thoughts

quick, initial thoughts that go through a perosn’s mind when something happens usually a negative event

• happen almost without thinking and can affect persons mood

example:

if you wake up late for work,

automtic thoughts: “I might get fired or I cant do anything right “

cognitive distortions

patterns of thinking that are negative and biased making you see things in an unrealistic or exaggerated way

Dichotomous thinking

considering only the extreme

“ I am a complete failure”

overgeneralizing

thinking one bad thing means everything will go badly

“because I wasn’t invited to one party, I wont be invited to others

selective abstraction

focusing only on the negative parts of a situation

“that person at the back of the audience wasn’t interested in what I was saying”

mind reading

assuming you know what others are thinking without evidence

“she obviously thinks I don’t know what im doing”

personalizing

believing something others do is about you

“he walked away because he doesnt want to see me”

“should” statements

telling yourself you must always meet high standars

“ I must be smart and witty at all times”

castastrophizing

expecting the worst possible outcome

“my husband hasn’t called, he might be dead”

minimizing

downplaying postive events or success

“they only said they liked my dinner because they felt pity for me”

core beliefs

deep, long lasting ideas about yourself, others, or the world that influences thoughts and behaviour

they shape automatic thoughts

examples: I am helpless, I am worthless, I am unlovable