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Cognitive-Behavioral
TherapyCBT is an active, problem-focused, and
goal-directed therapy. It is an empirically supported treatment that focuses on patterns of thinking that are maladaptive
and the beliefs that underlie such thinking. For example,
a person who is depressed may have the belief, "I’m worthless," and a person with a phobia may have the belief,
"I am in danger." A person in distress likely holds such beliefs with great conviction. With a therapist’s
help, the individual is encouraged to view such beliefs as hypotheses rather than facts and to test out such beliefs. Clients
are encouraged to monitor and log thoughts that pop into their minds, these are called "automatic thoughts". This
will enable them to determine what patterns of biases in thinking may exist and to develop more adaptive alternatives to their
thoughts. Studies of CBT have demonstrated its usefulness for a wide variety of problems, including mood disorders, anxiety
disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders, and psychotic disorders.
CBT is Briefer and Time-Limited. Cognitive-behavioral
therapy is considered among the most rapid in terms of results obtained. The
average number of sessions clients receive (across all types of problems and approaches to CBT) is about 16. CBT is highly instructive in nature and uses homework assignments. CBT is time-limited. Clients understand at the very beginning of the therapy process that there will be
a point when the formal therapy will end. The ending of the formal therapy is a decision made by the therapist and client.
Therefore, CBT is not an open-ended, never-ending process.
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