Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, being one of the modern directions, relies on the importance of cognitive processes in the formation of psychological difficulties and human complexes. Its creator is American professor Aaron Temkin Beck. Today, behavioral psychotherapy is considered one of the most effective methods in the treatment of depressive conditions and the prevention of suicidal tendencies in humans.
In the above form of influence, principles are applied that are aimed at changing the individual’s behavior in order to identify existing thoughts (cognitions) and to identify sources of problems among them.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is used to eliminate negative thoughts, create and strengthen new analytical methods and stereotypes of thinking and includes several techniques. Among them are:
- Detection of unwanted and desirable thoughts, identification of factors that provoked their appearance.
- Designing new stereotypes in a patient.
- Using imagination in visualizing the alignment of other thoughts with emotional well-being and desired behavior.
- Application in current life, real situations of new conclusions.
The main goal pursued by cognitive-behavioral therapy is the adoption of new stereotypes by a person for a habitual mental image.
The technique connects all psychological problems with the direction of thoughts. In other words, not circumstances are the main obstacle to achieving harmony and happiness in life. Man with his mind forms this or that relation to the environment and what is happening. In this case, as a rule, far from the best human qualities develop . For example, panic, anger, timidity, fear, passivity.
An inadequate assessment of the value of surrounding people, events and objects, their endowment with uncharacteristic qualities can be present in all areas of human life. So, for example, when the opinion of the authorities is attached great importance, any complaint on his part by subordinates is perceived very painfully. This affects not only the employee’s performance, but also his own attitude to himself.
The influence of thoughts on a person has a more pronounced character in the family. So, for example, when a woman considers a man to be the main thing in all matters, and herself - not having the right to contradict him, all her life she can be doomed to endure his aggression. Of course, in this case, there is no need to talk about equality in the family. Often the woman’s attitude to the role of family members is based on fear - she is afraid to cause her husband’s anger. It should be noted that in many cases, fear is unreasonable and provoked only by her own thoughts.
Methods for identifying and subsequent changes in the underlying difficulties and problems of a person, which includes cognitive-behavioral therapy, are some of the most accessible to consciousness. According to many qualified specialists, it is most difficult to treat patients with personality disorders. This is mainly due to the fact that, as a rule, such patients come to the psychotherapist under strong pressure from relatives, without experiencing any desire to change in any way. A person who is not aware of his own deep problem, does not seek to cope with it, feels an internal resistance. This often negatively affects the outcome of treatment.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is designed to stimulate the patient to change. The main difficulty in this case is that a person is reluctant to leave his own comfort zone, since in many cases he cannot understand why he should change something, because he already feels excellent with the existing behavioral model and thoughts.