Overview Of The Cognitive Behavioral Theory

Cognitive Behavioral Theory (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that helps different types of behavioral problems such depression, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. The Cognitive Behavioral Theory was pioneered by Aron Beck. Although he spent most of his career studying psychoanalysis, in the 1960s his research focused on distorted thoughts that led to problematic behaviors (“Beck”, 2017). He developed the Cognitive Behavioral Theory trying to help his depressed clients while working as a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania. The Cognitive Behavioral Theory (CBT) approach consists on monitoring negative automatic thoughts (cognitive), recognizing the connection between cognition and behavior, examine the evidence

The monograph included his concept of negative cognitive views about self, beliefs, world, and future. According to Beck, those three components interact and can interfere with normal cognitive processing which leads to impairments of perception, memory, and problem solving (McLeod, 2008). Moreover, Beck believed that a negative self-schema may be acquired in childhood as a result of a traumatic event such as the death of a parent or sibling, parental rejection, overprotection, abuse, criticism, exclusion from certain social groups or bullying at school (McLeod, 2008). Additionally, he introduced in his monograph on depression basic strategies to help patients explore their beliefs and how to protect themselves from the “biasing effects of schema-driven processing” (Hollon,

After subsequent investigation and research, Cognitive Behavioral Theory became widely recognized as an effective treatment for depression. Moreover, Beck’s theory extended to approach other mental disorder such as substance abuse, marital problems, eating disorders, personality disorder, panic and anxiety disorders (Craske, 2010). According to Butler et al.,16 meta-analyses reviewed supported the efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for a variety of conditions in adults and adolescents (Butler et al., 2006).

Each CBT needs different strategies according to the individual’s problem. However, despite the difference of each treatment techniques, they share the same core model and general approach. The Cognitive Behavioral Theory aims to help a patient identify, evaluate and eventually modify distorted cognitions. In order to achieve this, the patient with disorders needs to collaborate and participate in the “problem-solving process to test and challenge the validity of maladaptive cognitions” and behavioral patterns (Hoffman et al.,