Cbt Pros And Cons

The Silver Bullet: A Critical Examination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Over 6.8 million American adults, or more than one out of every thirty, suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. Even more so, 16.1 million American adults struggle with major depressive disorder. In fact, MDD is currently the leading cause of disability in the U.S.A according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Thus, it is paramount that we strive to discover the most effective and therapeutic solutions to these crippling disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one such popular option that has garnered a great deal of support from many psychologists. To further elaborate, cognitive behavioral therapy grows from the idea of the cognitive model.

The Beck Institute continues “One important part of CBT is helping clients change their unhelpful thinking and behavior that lead to enduring improvement in their mood and functioning”. Although on the other hand, there are several glaring criticisms that have been brought against CBT. Some psychologists argue that CBT suffers from a declining effectiveness and high drop-out rates. Similarly, some researchers also contend that CBT has not been researched near enough to be deemed more effective than other treatments. Lastly, some psychologists worry that CBT toes the line of self-deception a little too close and that cognitive behavioral therapists sometimes confuse the symptoms of the disorder with the causes of it. Consequently, it then begs to be asked if CBT is an effective and therapeutic

The belief is that learning to be mindful of our thoughts and behaviors can assist us in changing how they make us feel. Psychologist Ben Martin explains this idea impeccably, “CBT is based on a model or theory that it’s not events themselves that upset us, but the meanings we give to them.” He continues to explain, “If our thoughts are too negative, it can block us seeing things or doing things that don’t fit – that disconfirm – what we believe is true.” CBT works to change our perspective of our self and in that change how we perceive the world around us. By doing this it is thought that clients can break negative thought patterns and learn new thought habits. In practice, CBT is different from many other forms of session therapy in that it has a set routine, instead of free-form talking about issues. This routine is discussed in Beck’s handbook Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond. The client and therapist discuss specific problems the client is currently experiencing, and they prepare goals to overcome and challenge these problems. These goals then become the focus of further sessions as the client and therapist work through the problems by changing behavior and though patterns, often though the use of homework. (p. 11-12). CBT has been shown through research to be able to reduce symptoms of emotional disorders (Martin). In his article