The Development Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form a therapy that is short term, problem focused, cost effective, and can be provided to a broad range of disorders and is based on evidence based practices, in fact it is has the most substantial evidence based of all psychosocial therapies (Craske, 2017, p.3). Evidence based practices are strategies that have been proven to be effective through research and science. One goal of CBT is to decrease symptoms and improve the quality of life by replacing maladaptive behaviors, emotions and cognitive responses with adaptive responses (Craske, 2017, p.24). The behavioral intervention goal is to decrease maladaptive behavior and increase adaptive behavior. The goal of cognitive intervention is to modify maladaptive cognitions, self-statements or beliefs. CBT grew out of behavioral therapy and the social learning theory (Dobson, 2012, p.9). It was not until the 1950s that CBT started to swarm the psychology field. Due to nonscientific psychoanalytical approaches, there was a need for a better form of intervention which ensued to behavioral therapy (Craske, 2017,

There are two types of therapy in CBT, cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy. The dissatisfaction with psychoanalytical approaches led to the birth of behavioral therapy. Eventually, there was a need to test hypotheses, that is when cognitive therapy joined behavioral therapy forming CBT. In CBT clinicians believe that psychopathology starts with an event. After the event takes place a person develops thoughts and feelings about the event, their thoughts and feelings about the event is the rational for their behavior which is the action. In terms of treatment there are several types of mechanism of change. Some example of mechanism of change are extinction, modeling and exposure. Mechanism of change is what causes the client to change their thoughts, feelings and