Reading up on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and it makes me excited.
It points out exactly what cognitive error we make that lead to depression, anxiety etc. I really like CBT for how it only precisely looks at ones cognitions. Thoughts are easy to consider. They are better than trying Freudian word-association to figure out personality complexes - though that process might work too for diagnosis. CBT hits issues on its head, expects the person to sit down with their thoughts and observe them and do their homework - there is actual homework in CBT. It is not the (relatively) easy kind of talk-therapy. Though, talk therapy is still very necessary, it is the first step to uncovering faulty cognitions.
One of the things I absolutely love about CBT and Aaron Beck's work is the recognition that depression and anxiety are caused by two kinds of beliefs being threatened;
- One's sense of belongingness/being loved
- One's sense of ability
And one of the most common cognitive errors we make is overgeneralization, where we take one incident to conclude that we are unworthy of love and/or incapable. All of CBT is about recognizing where your thoughts go global about your worth, and then fixing them.
Because CBT is so action focused, one problem with it is the ease with which it can invalidate.
"You are thinking incorrectly." - which could of course be taken to mean, "I always think wrong thoughts. Something is wrong with me. I will never be okay."
What's worse is therapists have to take a no-nonsense approach with clients.
Better but less popular therapy is Acceptance and Commitment therapy. It starts with teaching clients to be accepting of themselves and their thoughts, instead of fighting them. It starts with the softer side of acceptance and CBT can then be used alongside.
One other problem with CBT is the possibility of imposing responsibility on the client for having those thoughts; a rape victim with anxious or depressive thoughts. And that it looks towards changing the world view of the client and sort of assumes that having strong, negative emotions is in some sense abnormal.
As much as I am a humanist in that people are entitled to their worldviews, I am also starting to recognize how limited people are and how we make our lives difficult. Other than helping/waiting for a person to feel empowered enough to make changes, I have not come across another solution.
It points out exactly what cognitive error we make that lead to depression, anxiety etc. I really like CBT for how it only precisely looks at ones cognitions. Thoughts are easy to consider. They are better than trying Freudian word-association to figure out personality complexes - though that process might work too for diagnosis. CBT hits issues on its head, expects the person to sit down with their thoughts and observe them and do their homework - there is actual homework in CBT. It is not the (relatively) easy kind of talk-therapy. Though, talk therapy is still very necessary, it is the first step to uncovering faulty cognitions.
One of the things I absolutely love about CBT and Aaron Beck's work is the recognition that depression and anxiety are caused by two kinds of beliefs being threatened;
- One's sense of belongingness/being loved
- One's sense of ability
And one of the most common cognitive errors we make is overgeneralization, where we take one incident to conclude that we are unworthy of love and/or incapable. All of CBT is about recognizing where your thoughts go global about your worth, and then fixing them.
Because CBT is so action focused, one problem with it is the ease with which it can invalidate.
"You are thinking incorrectly." - which could of course be taken to mean, "I always think wrong thoughts. Something is wrong with me. I will never be okay."
What's worse is therapists have to take a no-nonsense approach with clients.
Better but less popular therapy is Acceptance and Commitment therapy. It starts with teaching clients to be accepting of themselves and their thoughts, instead of fighting them. It starts with the softer side of acceptance and CBT can then be used alongside.
One other problem with CBT is the possibility of imposing responsibility on the client for having those thoughts; a rape victim with anxious or depressive thoughts. And that it looks towards changing the world view of the client and sort of assumes that having strong, negative emotions is in some sense abnormal.
As much as I am a humanist in that people are entitled to their worldviews, I am also starting to recognize how limited people are and how we make our lives difficult. Other than helping/waiting for a person to feel empowered enough to make changes, I have not come across another solution.
