Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - Toolshero

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: this article explains the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in a practical way. Next to what is is, and the definition, this article als highlights the frequently occurring cognitive errors, the CBT triangle and the techniques. Enjoy reading!

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?

The definition of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of active psychotherapy / talk therapy. Guided by empirical research, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy focuses upon the development of coping mechanisms that solve relevant problems (problem solving) and alter useless cognitive patterns. Cognition refers to thoughts, convictions, behaviour, and emotions.

CBT consists of two two types of therapy: behavioural therapy, and cognitive therapy (emotional and behavioral). Behavioural therapy primarily concerns the analysis and alteration of behaviour. A person’s mannerisms and actions are very telling about how their thought processes work.

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Cognitive therapy emphasises on how we think. Particularly, with regards to the key role that emotions play as part of the thought process.

An anxious person for example, might be convinced that everything is going to end badly today. These negative thoughts cause difficulties with focusing, with only negative things being noticed. Thoughts and actions which might undermine these negative thought processes are automatically blocked out and avoided.

The day turning out to not have had anything particularly negative about it at all may actually generate even greater anxiety. These negative thought patterns can generate a powerful feedback loop. This locks the subject into a cruel, continuous vicious cycle of fear.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - Toolshero

Figure 1 – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Triangle Model

A combination of behavioural therapy and cognitive therapy has proven to be a successful formula in the treatment of mental disorders. As early as 100 AD, Stoic Philosophers in particular identified fundamental aspects of contemporary CBT.

Epictetus, for instance, believed that logic could be used to identify and subsequently ignore false beliefs. This could in turn lead to destructive emotions. Later, Aaron T. Beck would write the original handbook for depression.

Frequently occurring cognitive errors and their associated dysfunctional presuppositions

Cognitive Behavioural therapists believe that humans can adjust their thinking. This cognitive restructuring is often carried out by psychotherapists.

They aid the client in converting the thoughts which make them anxious or otherwise upset into helpful thoughts. Those suffering from such irrational negative thought spirals frequently contend with relationship struggles, communicative issues, and the consequences of unhealthy choices.

Whether it concerns personal happiness or success, the recognition and replacement of inaccurate thoughts is key. From David Burns’ book, ‘Feeling Good: New Mood therapy divides the most frequently occurring thought errors into 10 categories:

1. Unrealistic ideals

People have been comparing themselves to others since the dawn of man. As effective this might be for personal development and self motivation, it more often leads to a problematic, demoralising mindset. People are inclined to make unreasonable, unfair comparisons between themselves and others, losing sight of their personal path to success. An effect worsened by the dawn of social media.

2. Personalisation

Irrespective of evidence to the contrary, we very often perceive the world to revolve around ourselves. Personalization is a cognitive disturbance where people perceive what others say and do as a direct and personal reaction to them.

Case in point: John calls his friend Steve, Steve doesn’t pick up. John’s immediate thoughts become filled with anxiety that Steve is mad or has suddenly grown to hate him. What really happened was that Steve was helping an old lady cross a busy street.

By constantly internalising negative events, the subject feels personally responsible for negative things that occur. He perceives himself as the center of negative events and doesn’t question whether any other factors play a key part.

3. All or nothing

An all-or-nothing mentality is a negative thought process and cognitive distortion, frequently manifesting in individuals with anxiety or depression. Extreme, binary thought processes frequently overlap with words such as ‘never’ or ‘every’. This is also referred to as thinking in black and white.

At the office, this may manifest in classifying every project as either a success, or a failure. For someone thinking in black and white, there is no middle ground between success and failure. He or she dismisses the vital shades of grey.

4. Overgeneralisation

Overgeneralisation occurs when a single incident or piece of evidence is used to draw overall conclusions. Subjects might take singular, unpleasant events, as parts of an infinite pattern of loss.

Rejection during a job interview may convince the subject that they are doomed to eternal unemployment. The subject will become ever more hopeless, opening the door to other cognitive distortions.

Healthy people and worldviews are also heavily warped by this effect. After a negative experience with an individual from an ethnic group, some people make sweeping generalisations of the entire ethnic group.

5. Filtering out the positive

Those suffering from anxiety disorders employ their mental filters to purge their life of all pleasant, satisfying thoughts. They will fixate on shortcomings and dissatisfaction, frequently displaying avoidance behaviour, which exacerbate their feelings of isolation.

Anxiety levels keep rising since all positive experiences are filtered out, leaving room only for increasingly amplified, self destructive thoughts. Should nine good things and one bad thing happen, the bad will be the sole focus.

6. Reading thoughts

In moderation, reading thoughts can be a very helpful skill to have. Sadly, it more often drives people to despair.

How someone feels about something might be discerned by reading certain instances of body language, during a conversation, for example. Someone might slacken their jaw when surprised for example or raise their eyebrows when they have concerns.

Reading too deeply into things however, can give way to problematic misunderstandings. For example, someone might be dining in a restaurant alone, and think that other diners consider them lonely and pitiful.

A student answering a teacher’s question incorrectly might be convinced that the other students think he or she is dumb. Guessing the perceptions of others is frequently inaccurate and detrimental to one’s self-image.

7. Catastrophising (PCS)

Catastrophising entails an exaggeration of trifling occurrences. Even if this ostensibly innocuous event hasn’t even happened yet, the subject may predict a negative outcome.

He or she is automatically proceeding on the assumption that a catastrophic conclusion is inevitable. Someone that fails to meet their financial goals could automatically assume they’ll go bankrupt.

8. Emotional reasoning

People tend to take their experiences and feelings as truth. If someone feels dumb, or stupid, surely this must be true. However, emotions aren’t always grounded in reality, even if one thinks that their feelings are completely rational. It’s essential to recognise that, just like thoughts, emotions aren’t always based on facts.

9. Labelling

Labelling is a cognitive distortion where the subject generalises a person based on a single trait. ‘He’s a failure because he failed the test’. Or, ‘he just ignored a red light, so he probably breaks the law regularly’.

By labelling someone, they will be exclusively perceived in accordance with the label attached to them. All information that doesn’t fit the label, will be disregarded.

10. Prophecy

Even though seeing the future is impossible, some people try to do so anyway. Prophecy is a cognitive distortion in which the subject predicts a negative outcome. However, he or she doesn’t account for the realistic chances of said outcome coming to pass.

Prophecies tend to be made by people with feelings of anxiety or depression, often resulting in feelings of insecurity. Someone might already proceed on the assumption that a job interview will be a bust before it even started.

Become a Certified Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Practitioner and elevate your understanding of human behaviour.   

Techniques in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a lot more than just sitting down and talking about what springs to mind at the time. A structured approach ensures that the therapist and client can make a guided effort towards reaching the goals of each session. As a result, time with the therapist is productively spent, featuring many CBT techniques such as:

  • Keeping track of thoughts, ideas, and experiences in a logbook
  • Exchanging and discussing particular beliefs
  • Relaxation
  • Social, physical, and cognitive exercises
  • Homework such as reading and writing assignments, or social experiments such as engaging passers-by on the street in conversation

Advantages

CBT has been proven to be effective in the treatment of myriad psychological disorders. Aside from depressions or anxiety disorders, CBT can also aid in the treatment of:

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Eating Disorders (anorexia and bulimia)
  • Alcohol abuse related sleeping disorders
  • Burnouts

Additionally, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can also aid in coping with symptoms of:

  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

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Now it is your turn

What do you think? Do you recognise this explanation of CBT and the frequently occurring cognitive distortions? What do you believe to be contributing factors to a healthy state of mind? What do you feel aids in focusing, and in creating a healthy self-image?

Share your experience and knowledge in the comments box below.

More information

  1. Burns, D. D., & Beck, A. T. (1999). Feeling good: The new mood therapy (p. 738). New York: Avon.
  2. Butler, A. C., Chapman, J. E., Forman, E. M., & Beck, A. T. (2006). The empirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: a review of meta-analyses. Clinical psychology review, 26(1), 17-31.
  3. Beck, J. S., & Carlson, J. (2006). Cognitive therapy (p. 474). American Psychological Association.

How to cite this article:
Janse, B. (2018). Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Retrieved [insert date] from Toolshero: https://www.toolshero.com/psychology/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/

Published on: 10/02/2018 | Last update: 12/17/2023

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Ben Janse
Article by:

Ben Janse

Ben Janse is a young professional working at ToolsHero as Content Manager. He is also an International Business student at Rotterdam Business School where he focusses on analyzing and developing management models. Thanks to his theoretical and practical knowledge, he knows how to distinguish main- and side issues and to make the essence of each article clearly visible.

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