Behavioral cognitive therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy that is organized for a specific period of time, in which several predefined sessions are held, in which the therapist helps the patient to become more aware of negative and incorrect thoughts and to confront difficult situations in a more And more effective response, and the benefit to patients of cognitive behavioral therapy; patients with depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and even eating disorders patients benefited from cognitive behavioral therapy sessions. It is important to note that non-patients can benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy as well, as treatment helps to cope with stressful life situations.
This treatment is based on the cognitive model. It depends on how the individual receives an event related to his reaction rather than focusing on the event itself. The important part of this treatment is to help the person change his or her non-beneficial thoughts and change his behavior in a way that reflects positively on his mood and work.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a way of talking about the feelings of man about himself, about others and about the world around him, in addition to talking about things that affect the feelings and thoughts of man. It is worth mentioning that this treatment focuses on the problems and difficulties that the person currently faces and in the present place ; That is, a treatment that focuses on the present rather than on the past causes that may be the cause of these symptoms on the person, and therefore it is a treatment to improve the mental state of the mind at the present time.
Steps of cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy usually involves the following steps:
- Determine the situations in which the patient suffers from problems during which: It is possible that the problem is a medical condition suffered by the patient, or divorce, sadness, or anger, or that the problem is the symptoms suffered by the patient due to mental illness, in this step the therapist with the patient identify the problems and objectives that the patient Focus on cognitive behavioral therapy.
- The patient is aware of his feelings, thoughts and beliefs about these problems: When a person identifies the problem he or she is experiencing, the therapist helps the person to share his or her own ideas about the problem. This includes monitoring the patient’s personal speech about a particular experience, as well as observing his or her own, The therapist suggests that the patient start recording his or her thoughts on a booklet or a special book.
- Identify negative and incorrect thoughts: This helps the person determine the way of thinking and behavior that may have contributed to the problem, and here the therapist urges the person to pay attention to the physical, emotional and behavioral reactions he takes in different situations that he may be exposed to.
- Restructuring Negative Negative Ideas: The therapist encourages the person to ask himself about the basis on which his or her point of view is based; whether it builds on facts or builds on incorrect and inaccurate perceptions of what is going on. This is a difficult step in patient treatment. About his life and himself, but with training and practice becomes a pattern of behavior and thinking usually useful when a person does not require much effort.
Reasons for the use of cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is used to treat a wide range of diseases. This method is preferred for treatment because it is an organized method and the patient needs less treatment sessions than other psychological treatments. In addition, this method of treatment helps identify and address specific challenges. To use cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of emotional challenges, and this treatment can help to treat the symptoms of mental illness and prevent relapse in the emergence of these symptoms, and is useful in some cases where the treatment of drugs is not a suitable treatment option , In addition to the fact that cognitive behavioral therapy helps patients overcome injury and other medical diseases, and teach them how to control the symptoms of chronic diseases, and also helps in cases of grief and loss.
Of mental illnesses that can be used cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of the following:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy can be used more frequently when used with other therapies, such as antidepressants.
Duration of cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a short-term treatment. The number of sessions a person needs is discussed with the therapist, but the person usually needs 10 sessions to 20 sessions, depending on several factors, such as the type of disorder or problem the person is experiencing and the severity of the symptoms. The duration of the patient’s symptoms or the problem, the length of the patient’s progress in the treatment period, the degree of stress a person experiences, and the extent of support received from family members and other persons around him.
Tips to benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy sessions
There is no doubt that the rate of utilization of cognitive behavioral therapy is not equal for all, and in order to make the most of it can follow the following tips:
- Effective patient involvement in treatment and decision making with psychotherapist.
- The patient’s openness and honesty, as the success of treatment depends heavily on the patient’s desire to share his thoughts and feelings without feeling embarrassed, and that the patient is open to accept new visions and ways to make things.
- Commitment to treatment plan, failure to adhere to it may impede progress of treatment.
- Do not expect immediate results, working with emotional things, for example, may be painful to the person, so that the person may feel worse during the first treatment sessions, because of the start of the confrontation of past and present conflicts suffered by the person, may need a person for several sessions before feeling better.
- The duties assigned by the therapist to the patient between the sessions of treatment, because these duties help the patient to practice what he learned during the sessions.
- If the patient does not feel any improvement after several sessions, it is necessary to tell the therapist so, where a decision can be made between the patient and the therapist to make some changes or change the treatment plan.