Aaron Beck's Cognitive Theory Essay

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Describe the Beck’s Cognitive Behavioral Theory and approach to psychotherapy
In the 1960s, Aaron Beck was practicing psychoanalyst and wanted to show that the theory of psychoanalysis was empirically valid as a concept for depression (Beck, 2011). Dr. Beck’s experiments showed evidence different from what he expected. In anticipation of conceptualizing depression, he observed that depressed individuals tend to have unprompted negative thoughts and he referred to these thoughts as automatic thoughts (Beck Institute, n.d.). Then he started to evaluate patients based on these automatic thoughts and realized that it effectively helped patients feel better. He called this form of psychotherapy as Cognitive Therapy, which is also referred to as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Beck, …show more content…

When we think positive thoughts, we tend to act in a more positive manner (Beck, 2011). When an individual only have negative thoughts, these thoughts could cause some dysfunctions that could negatively affect the individual. Hence, the development of anxiety, depression, and other behavioral conditions. According to Beck (2011), “The cognitive model proposes that dysfunctional thinking (which influences the patient’s mood and behavior) is common to all psychological disturbances” (p.3). CBT theory is congruent with the learning theory with emphases on the need for an individual to learn to think in a realistic and positive manner (Beck, 2011). Dr. Beck explained that spontaneous thoughts which he referred to as automatic thoughts tend to erupt when there is the existence of a negative mindset (Beck, 2011). In order to minimize these automatic thoughts, CBT helps the individual understand their dysfunctional beliefs or thoughts and guides the person to learn to evaluate their thinking in a more adaptive manner (Beck,

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