Week 12: Therapeutic Approaches - CBT and Third Wave Therapies

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering general therapeutic intervention principles, first-wave behaviour therapy, second-wave cognitive therapy, and third-wave therapies (ACT and DBT) from PSYC251 Week 12.

Case Formulation

A dynamic and collaborative process whereby a therapist and client work together to first describe and then explain the issues a client presents with in therapy, identifying what maintains their concerns to directly inform intervention (Kuyken, Padesky, & Dudley, 2009).

4P's Formulation Framework

A clinical formulation model that categorises a client's presentation into four factor types: Predisposing, Precipitating, Perpetuating, and Protective factors.

First Wave (Behaviour Therapy)

An approach emerging in the 1950s grounded in learning theory (classical and operant conditioning), based on the premise that behaviours are learned and can therefore be unlearned or changed, focusing strictly on observable behaviour.

Classical Conditioning

A foundational learning principle within first-wave behaviour therapy developed and studied by Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, and Mary Cover Jones, showing how stimuli become associated with conditioned physiological and emotional responses.

Operant Conditioning

A behavioural learning concept advanced by B. F. Skinner focusing on how behaviours are shaped, strengthened, or eliminated through reinforcement and punishment.

Systematic Desensitization

A behavioural therapy technique developed by Joseph Wolpe that treats phobias and anxiety by pairing gradual exposure to a feared stimulus with relaxation techniques.

Social Learning Theory and Modelling

A framework developed by Albert Bandura highlighting that learning occurs through observing, imitating, and modelling others' behaviours, bridging behaviourism and cognitive theories.

Second Wave (Cognitive Therapy)

A therapeutic movement arising in the 1960s and 1970s that shifted focus back toward mental processes, positing that interpretations of events and behaviours—not just external contingencies—drive emotions.

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)

An Ellisian cognitive model developed by Albert Ellis that utilizes disputation to directly challenge and dismantle 'irrational ideas.'

Self-Instructional Training

A cognitive-behavioural intervention developed by Donald Meichenbaum aimed at modifying internal verbal dialogue to guide coping and behaviour.

Beck's Negative Cognitive Triad

A 1979 cognitive model by Aaron Beck describing three interconnected streams of negative thoughts common in depression: negative views about the Self, negative views about the World, and negative views about the Future.

Automatic Thoughts

Spontaneous, involuntary cognitive appraisals and interpretations of events that directly trigger emotional and behavioural responses, underpinned by deeper assumptions and core beliefs.

Core Beliefs / Schemas

Deeply ingrained, fundamental beliefs regarding oneself, others, and the world formed across early life experiences and learning history.

Rules for Living / Assumptions

Intermediate conditional beliefs, attitudes, and rules (e.g., 'If I disagree, then I will be rejected') that an individual develops to live by and cope with core beliefs.

Mental Filter

An unhelpful thinking style characterized by focusing exclusively on one negative part of a situation while completely ignoring the rest.

Jumping to Conclusions

An unhelpful thinking style consisting of mind reading (assuming what someone else is thinking) and predictive thinking (making negative predictions about future outcomes).

Personalisation

An unhelpful thinking style in which a person blames themselves for everything that goes wrong or could go wrong, regardless of their actual responsibility.

Catastrophising

An unhelpful thinking style that involves blowing a situation dramatically out of proportion relative to reality.

Black and White Thinking

An unhelpful thinking style characterized by viewing situations only in extreme, dichotomous terms (e.g., total success vs. failure, all good vs. all bad).

Overgeneralisation

An unhelpful thinking style where an individual takes a single isolated event from the present or past and imposes it as a universal rule across all present or future situations.

Hot Cross Bun / Padesky 5 Factor Model

A CBT case formulation framework illustrating how a Situation/Trigger interacts continuously with four interconnected internal components: Thoughts, Emotions/Feelings, Behaviours, and Body Sensations.

ABC Model

A cognitive tool used to understand how an Activating Event (A) triggers Beliefs/interpretations (B), which in turn produce emotional and behavioural Consequences (C).

Downward Arrow Technique

A Socratic cognitive technique that progressively uncovers underlying assumptions, conditional rules, and core beliefs by repeatedly asking what a thought would mean if it were true.

Behavioural Activation

A behavioural intervention targeting depression and low motivation by scheduling enjoyable and mastery-oriented activities from a catalogue to interrupt avoidance and inactivity cycles.

Third Wave Therapies

Modern therapies emerging from the 1980s and 1990s onward (including ACT and DBT) that incorporate mindfulness, acceptance, values, and dialectical synthesis into traditional cognitive-behavioural principles.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

A third-wave therapy developed by Steven Hayes aimed at fostering psychological flexibility—being willing to experience the present moment and engage in values-aligned action despite discomfort or distress.

Experiential Avoidance

The attempt to control, suppress, or escape unpleasant internal experiences (thoughts, feelings, sensations), resulting in short-term relief but escalating original discomfort and creating functional impairment.

Functional Contextualism

The philosophical basis of ACT which asserts that the validity of a thought or belief is judged by its workability and usefulness in context rather than its literal truth.

Relational Frame Theory (RFT)

The psychological and linguistic theory of human cognition developed by Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, and Roche that provides the theoretical foundation for ACT.

ACT Hexaflex

The core formulation model of ACT consisting of six interrelated processes that cultivate psychological flexibility: Being Present, Acceptance, Defusion, Self as Context, Values, and Committed Action (contrasted with six inflexibility processes).

Cognitive Fusion

An inflexible cognitive state where thoughts are treated as literal truths, facts, or commands that dominate behavioural responses.

Cognitive Defusion

An ACT process involving learning to step back and observe thoughts without being ruled by them, using exercises like 'I am having the thought that…', repeating words aloud until meaning is lost, or imagining thoughts on floating leaves.

Choice Point

An ACT framework that helps clients identify difficult thoughts and feelings ('hooks') in a situation and consciously decide between 'away moves' (avoidance) and 'towards moves' (values-aligned actions).

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

A third-wave treatment developed by Marsha Linehan initially for chronic suicidality and self-harm (and later borderline personality disorder) that balances radical acceptance with change strategies.

Biosocial Model

Marsha Linehan's developmental model explaining that pervasive emotion dysregulation develops from a continuous transaction between an individual's biological emotional vulnerability and an invalidating environment.

Wise Mind

The DBT state of inner wisdom resulting from the synthesis and integration of Rational Mind (logic, facts, research) and Emotional Mind (feelings, urges, moods).

DBT Chain Analysis

A behavioural assessment and formulation method that traces a target problem behaviour step-by-step from vulnerability factors and prompting events through links of thoughts, feelings, urges, and body sensations to pinpoint skill intervention points.

TIPP Skills

A set of rapid crisis distress tolerance skills in DBT designed to reduce intense emotional arousal by changing physiology through Temperature, Intense Exercise, Paced Breathing, and Paired Muscle Relaxation.

ACCEPTS Skill

A DBT distress tolerance acronym for healthy crisis distraction techniques: Activities, Contributing, Comparisons, Emotions, Pushing Away, Thoughts, and Sensations.

DEAR MAN Skill

A DBT interpersonal effectiveness acronym detailing steps to assert needs and maintain boundaries: Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce, (Be) Mindful, Appear Confident, and Negotiate.