cognitive treatments - cognitive behavioural therapy

Question 1

what is the aim of cbt?

Answer 1

to challenge schizophrenic patient’s irrational beliefs and thought processes.
so, in cbt, doctors attempt to challenge and dispute these delusional beliefs.

Question 2

what is the first step of cbt?

Answer 2

explanation
the patient explains their symptoms

Question 3

what is the second step of cbt?

Answer 3

normalisation.
the doctor explains that the patient’s feelings are normal

Question 4

what is the third step of cbt?

Answer 4

challenging
the doctor challenges beliefs and experiences

Question 5

what is the fourth step of cbt?

Answer 5

alternative explanations.
the patient is asked to develop alternative explanations for beliefs and experiences.

Question 6

limitation of cbt - studies investigating the effectiveness of cbt limitation

Answer 6

• not all of these studies used random allocation to assign participants to the cbt treatment and to the control group.
• this is a problem because it means the studies couldn’t control participant variables that might of influenced the patient’s behaviour. the patient’s given cbt might have already had less severe symptoms than the control group.
• this means there might have been confounding variables that influenced the results, making cbt seem more effective than it is

Question 7

limitation of cbt - availability and cost

Answer 7

• it is an expensive treatment. for instance, the delusional beliefs and dysfunctional reasoning that schizophrenic patients display are persistent. they have had these beliefs for a long time. so, doctors cannot get rid of these irrational beliefs in one session.
• for every therapy session, there is a cost as we need to pay the therapist. as well as this, cbt usually occurs one on one with the patient. therefore, lots of therapists are needed for lots of sessions which is expensive.
• this is a problem because it limits the availability of the treatment