408 Midterm 2 Flashcards
(100 cards)
what are the core features of CBT
- structured
- short-term (6-8 sessions can lead to symptom improvement, but will depend on disorder and presentation)
- present-oriented (as opposed to the past)
- empirical (both nomothetic and idiographic)
- directed toward modifying dysfunctional thinking
- based on cognitive case conceptualization/formulation for individual clients
- designed to produce cognitive change
cognitive model
- situation = thought (interpretation) = emotion (result of the thought) = behaviour (result of the emotion)
- can also include a physiological reaction (instead of an emotion)
- different thoughts in responses to situations will incur different emotions, so different behaviours
- this is the process of identifying automatic thoughts: what are people thinking when they notice a change in their emotions or behaviours (people are better at noticing these more obvious shifts)
intermediate beliefs & core beliefs & automatic thoughts
- core belief: basic organizing principle about how we experience ourselves in the world
- leads to intermediate beliefs: rules, attitudes, assumptions about how the world works, how it should work, how we should behave
- lead to automatic thoughts
principles of CBT (14)
- based on cognitive conceptualizations
- requires a good therapeutic alliance
- continually monitors client progress
- culturally-adapted and tailored to the individual
- emphasizes the positive
- emphasizes collaboration and active participation
- aspirational, values-based, goal-oriented
- initially emphasizes the present
- aims to be educating
- aims to be time-limited
- consists of structured sessions
- teaches patients to identify, evaluate, and respond to dysfunctional beliefs
- includes action plans (therapy homework)
- uses a variety of techniques to change thinking, mood, and behaviour
what does it mean that CBT is “culturally adapted and tailors treatment to the individual”
- there is a general approach in treatment manuals (broad philosophy and treatment technique suggestions), but needs to be adapted for the individual
- CBT tends to be ‘brainy’ and cognitive which may not work for everyone (using different examples instead of emphasizing the scientific approach and examples)
what does it mean that CBT “emphasizes the positive”
- people have negative filters on, so you have trouble seeing anything positive in your life or you’re misinterpreting positive things as negative
- the therapist needs to bring attention to the positive
what does it mean that CBT “emphasizes collaboration and active participation”
- collective empiricism: teamwork in trying to figure out the problem and how to help
what does it mean that CBT is “aspirational, values-based, goal-oriented”
- values: ongoing important aspects of your life
- goals: concrete, there are moments when the goals are accomplished
what does it mean that CBT “initially emphasizes the present”
- here-and-now focus: the things that contribute to psychopathology aren’t necessarily the things that maintain it (the etiology isn’t the same as the maintenance)
- getting people out of a vicious cycle requires focusing on maintenance factors
- with time (and only if necessary), we can explore the past to understand patterns of beliefs and how they arose
- for some clients, changing thinking patterns on a daily basis will be sufficient, but for others it might be important to move to the past eventually
what does it mean that CBT “aims to be educating”
- educate client on cognitive model and techniques (why we think this works, what does changing your thought incur)
- teaching clients to evaluate their own dysfunctional thoughts (the therapist can’t do all the work, the clients needs to do it so it can generalize)
- teaching the client to “be their own therapist” and give them the necessary tools
what does it mean that CBT “consists of structured sessions”
- maximize efficiency and effectiveness
- start with a mood rating: how was your week
- agenda (client and therapist both bring items to the agenda)
- feedback and wrap-up: what did the client take from the session, what do they want to be done differently (an essential part of therapy so that the client has agency in their own treatment)
what does it mean that CBT “teaches patients to identify, evaluate, and respond to dysfunctional beliefs”
- guided discovery: leading the client to the answer by asking them questions so that they get there on their own
- behavioural experiments: testing beliefs by doing something in real life to challenge the beliefs
what does it mean that CBT “involves action plans”
- what the client is doing in between sessions to get benefits (one session per week is not going to do anything)
- client needs to build new patterns and habits
- anything we want clients to remember should be written down
what does it mean that CBT “uses a variety of techniques to change thinking, mood, and behaviour”
- not only cognitive strategies
- can pull from other treatment approaches (mindfulness, behavioural)
deconstruct the Lucy example in what the therapist was doing
- following the cognitive model
- focusing on a particular situation (not going to a lecture) so that the person can reconstruct the experience
- then going through thoughts (typically “I” statements that will be negative in a depressed person)
- then going through emotions (one-word, which can be difficult to grasp for clients)
- physiology (what you feel in your body)
- behaviours (what ends up happening because of thoughts and emotions)
- then how do you feel afterward: helps clients notice that their behaviours aren’t helpful
what is the main focus of a CBT assessment?
- assessing the current problem (what brought you in right now, what pushed you to start therapy)
- ask clients to detail a recent occasion when problem symptoms were experienced (what happened before, during, after)
- break the presenting problem into four internal systems (cognitions, emotions, behaviour, physiology) and the environment (larger context)
- the present is a relevant source of information (how is the problem being maintained?)
what are triggers and modifying factors
- antecedents, part of a CBT assessment
- triggers: what factors make the problem more or less likely to occur (can be external in the environment or internal)
- modifiers: contextual factors that impact how severe the problem is when it occurs
what are consequences and how are they helpful in an assessment
- what has happened as a result of current problems
- when the problem does occur, what are the emotions, behaviour, physiology, relationship changes that are the consequences
- consequences give insight into maintaining processes (the function)
- all our behaviours serve a function, we should find some way to serve that function in a different way
- the past is not relevant to why the person is struggling right now
what are maintaining processes
- vicious cycles that keep the problem going (this is where we intervene)
- different disorders have different common maintaining processes (but assessments must still be individualized)
- binge eating can be positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement depending on the episode and/or the person
- escape/avoidance (reducing aversive anxiety)
- reduction in activity (depression = withdrawal = lack of reward = more withdrawal)
- short-term reward (pleasurable experiences with maladaptive long-term consequences)
what is past history and problem development in CBT assessment
- vulnerability factors: things that set the stage for a problem to develop, but are neither necessary nor sufficient (the diathesis like family history of a disorder, will not be expressed without a stressor)
- precipitants: events or situations that provoke onset of symptoms (more immediate stressors and life events, can be traumatic or normal events, even positive), activating a pre-existing vulnerability belief
- modifiers: changes to life circumstances that affect the severity of a problem (someone who is generally anxious has just experienced something that increased the severity of their anxiety, so they cam to therapy)
cognitive model/conceptualization
- we always start at the level of automatic thoughts (most accessible and easiest to change because they’re situational)
- basic model: situation = thought = emotion = behaviour
- simple thought record: when you notice a change in emotion, try to identify what you’re thinking in that moment (used in cognitive restructuring and in assessment)
expanded cognitive model
- includes core beliefs (enduring cognitive phenomena that are deeply rooted and difficult to access)
- people focus selectively on information that confirms core beliefs and disregard information that doesn’t (in CBT we try to consider the entire situation, not just confirmatory information)
core beliefs
- global (apply to everything), rigid (difficult to change), overgeneralized
- fall into 3 categories:
1. incompetence (achievement-related and internal): I’m stupid, I’m a failure
2. unlovable (interpersonal): I’m bound to be rejected
3. worthless (especially in people with suicidal ideation): I’m bad, I don’t deserve anything good
intermediate beliefs
- between automatic thoughts and core beliefs
- attitudes: applies to everyone and all situations (not an I statement)
- rules: often includes “I” and “should”
- assumptions: often an If…Then statement
- also falls into 3 categories: helpless (incompetence core belief), unlovable, worthless
- the assumption is the easiest to work with because of implied causality (try to transform rules or attitudes into assumptions to be able to work with them)