LECTURE 3: cognitive therapy & cognitive restructuring Flashcards
(15 cards)
Cognitive theory
Human emotions/behaviours are often cause by:
- Biases
- Distortions
- Idadequacies
in the interpretation or evaluation of events.
Beck’s cognitive model of depression
Beck encountered many depressed people who viewed the world through a lens of loss and failure. This created the idea that depression a condition characterised by distortions in how people interpret situations. These negative automatic thoughts are spontaneous, mood congruent, seem plausible and often go underexamined.
This consists of:
1.Core beliefs
2. Intermediate beliefs
3. Automatic thoughts
(1) Core beliefs (Beck’s cognitive model of depression)
The most fundamental beliefs we have about ourselves, about others and the world.
“I am inadequate” “The world is a bad place”
(2) Intermediate beliefs (Beck’s cognitive model of depression)
Attitudes, assumptions and rules that we follow based on our core beliefs.
“I should always do my best”
(3) Automatic thoughts (Beck’s cognitive model of depression)
Caused by our core and intermediate beliefs.
“I failed” “If I go there, everybody will think I’m a loser”
Formation of these cognitive thoughts
Early adverse experiences –> Formation of negative core beliefs/ schema’s –> critical incident (activates mental schema’s) –> schema’s activated –> negative automatic thoughts –> symptoms of depression.
Cognitive restructuring
Identifying and changing these negative automatic thoughts. Which cognitions underly this depression?
Consists of 3 steps:
1. Step 1: Become aware of these cognitions.
2. Step 2: Examine and challenge these cognitions.
3. Step 3: Change these cognitions.
Step 1: becoming aware of underlying cognitions
- Identifying automatic thoughts (thought record)
- Focussing on cognitive distortions/biases (personalisation, double standard, labelling)
- Vertical descent / downward arrow (identifies underlying beliefs - what does this say about you/the world?)
Step 2: examine and challenge cognitions
- Cognitive continuum (I am a bad person on a scale from 0 to 100)
- Multi-dimensional evaluating (what makes a 100 = good person and 0 = bad person)
- Pie-chart technique (other explanations for thoughts)
- Socratic dialogue (explore, ask questions, evaluate, be curious)
- Guided discovery (let the client arrive at insights themselves - summarise, slow paced, open questions)
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
Stop the useless struggle with you internal experiences and direct your attention to building a meaningful, fulfilling, value-driven life. (Commitment to values + acceptance)
Relation between acceptance and commitment
- Acceptance fosters commitment: being able to accept your inner experiences as they are makes it easier to commit to what is important for you.
- Commitment fosters acceptance: lacking clarity of one’s values may entail avoidance behaviours, merely aimed at ‘feeling good’.
Mindfulness
Technique in ACT: Think of a situation that makes you feel sad, angry, tense, anxious. What do you feel? Where do you feel it? Does it change or stay the same?
Cognitive defusion
We have the tendency to fuse with the content of our thoughts. “I am a loser”. Learning to perceive these thoughts, images, memories and cognitions as what they are, as opposed to what they appear to be (threats, rules, truths and facts).
Exercise cognitive defusion
- Write down negative thought
- What does this evoke in jou?
- Write down “I am having this thought: ………”
This creates a distance between you and your thoughts.
You HAVE the thought, you ARE NOT the thought.
Values
Values clarify what is important to a person and can therefore create direction in life. Values guide and motivate actions, but are unlike goals, because they can’t be reached like goals.
In ACT: identify values + activation based on those values (love, equality, justice, courage)
