Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Video Analysis

Introduction

The aim of this assignment is to analyse and review a video that simulates an assessment interview, in a critique and elaborate way using the items of the CTS-R. The video intends to simulate a first session of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, is a structured and short-time psychological intervention that focuses on the clients’ current problems (Kinsella and Garland, 2008). Cognition and behaviour form the focus of CBT assessment and intervention (Williams and Garland, 2002). The treatment is collaborative, structured, and goal-oriented. CBT also employs a strong emphasis on relapse prevention (Primary Psychiatry, 2006), considering that it gives clients self-management skills that they

The video that this critical analysis refers to represents an assessment interview and is the first contact between client and practitioner (Kinsella and Garland, 2008). In CBT, the assessment intends to obtain specific information on the client’s current problems (Hughes, Herron, and Younge, 2014), including understanding the client’s own characteristics which contribute to their difficulties (Grant et al., 2008). An accurate and complete assessment is crucial to make an effective CBT intervention (Kinsella and Garland, 2008).

As observed on the video, on the first session, after the introductions are completed, the therapist explained the intention of that session to the client (Hughes, Herron, and Younge, 2014). The first purpose of assessment consists in collaboratively creating a detailed formulation of the client’s present problems (Goss, Rossi, and Moretti, 2010). The second purpose of the assessment interview is to allow the therapist to assess whether the client is suitable for the treatment that the therapist offers. If the client is suitable for treatment, the session also intends to explain of what treatment it consists and what it involves, and finally to obtain an informed consent (Whitfield and Davidson,

As stated previously, the video shows an interview assessment of CBT. The client, Mariam Sunni, was referred via letter by her general practitioner for symptoms of anxiety. Mariam is a woman around 30 years of age, married, with 2 kids, suffering from an anxiety disorder for the last 2 years.

Anxiety is a typical reaction to stress and it develops into a disabling disorder when becomes excessive, irrational, and persistent on every daily life situations (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). Epidemiological studies indicate that anxiety disorders are the most prevalent class of mental disorders (Hofmann and Smits, 2008). The anxious person frequently produces negative predictions of the future and is certain that something dangerous will happen any time and they will not know how to deal with it. Consequently, when the person experiences anxiety develops a range of unhelpful behaviours to manage the perceptions of danger (Kinsella and Garland,