Cognitive Therapy: The Preferred Appraoch

Introduction
Cognitive Therapy (CT) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment that helps clients better understand and uncover their feelings and thoughts that may influence their behaviors. Cognitive therapy aims its treatments at treating a wide range of disorders, such as depression, anxiety, addictions, and phobias. Cognitive therapy focuses on dealing with a specific problem of a client and is short-term in its therapy style. While clients are in therapy, they are guided in how to identify and correct disturbing thought patterns that have a negative influence on their behavior.
Brief description
Cognitive Therapy was “developed by Aaron T. Beck in the late 1960’s” (Murdock, 2013, p. 314). Before Aaron T. Beck there was Pavlov, Skinner, Watson, and Eysenck. “These therapists were among those who first developed Cognitive Behavior Therapy as a valid form of treatment” (Sarah, 2013). The term “Cognitive Therapy is often used as a general label for a number of systems that emphasize the role of cognition in dysfunction and intervention” and can be interchangeable with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) (Murdock, 2013, p. 314). CT is an approach that a counselor can use to help a client change dysfunctional behaviors and thoughts to realistic and healthy ones.
CT encompasses different types of therapy techniques that focuses on the impact of a client’s thinking. Other models include Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), just to name a few. One thing that these branches of therapy have in common is that the individual's thoughts are related to external behaviors and feelings. What causes the negative behaviors, feelings or thoughts are the perception...

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... of this research was that Mexican American women showed a “positive attitude toward the CBT-GSH program and a desire to engage in it” (Shea, Cachelink, Uribe, Stiegel, Thompson, 2012).
Conclusion
In conclusion, CT is generally a short-term approach, goal oriented in structure and collaboration between counselor and client. The main focus of CT is to teach the client through a variety of tools to become their own counselor or therapist. In essence, the counselor gives the client the tools necessary to change his or her negative thoughts and behavior. The tools that are used in this theory are unique. The tools consist of homework, guided discovery, relaxation, and exposure to the issues then response. Through multiple researches with different race, age, gender, sexual orientation, CT has been proven to lead to success for a healthier mental and physical life.