Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Sample Paper

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a form of psychotherapy that has progressively become popular over the past decades since taking its roots in the 1960s. This form of therapy has been utilized broadly to treat a variety of disorders such as anxiety, substance abuse, depression, eating and personality disorders among others. Similarly, CBT is currently accepted as an adjunctive intervention to medications in patients with serious mental disorders such as bipolar and schizophrenia.

Chand et al. (2021), define CBT as a goal-oriented, structured, and deductive hands-on form of therapy in which the therapist and the patient work in a collaborative manner with the target of modifying patterns of behavior and thinking to effectuate beneficial transformation in the patient’s mood and way of living. CBT is essential since our thoughts, emotions, and activities are interconnected. In this paper, I will explore cognitive behavioral therapy across its modalities and provide a description of challenges that could affect its effectiveness, as well as strategies to counter the challenges.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Across Individual, Family and Group Settings

The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy has been demonstrated across multiple settings including individual, group, and family settings. Individual cognitive-behavioral therapy involves a therapist engaging an individual to identify and change core dysfunctional beliefs (Neufeld et al., 2020). The therapist attempts to divert from maladaptive behaviors and thoughts by stimulating the patient to unfold unhackneyed ways of thinking and undertakings to enhance his psychological and physical well-being. For instance, the patient in the video (what a cognitive behavioral therapy session looks like) has a dysfunctional core thought of feeling unlovable.

Subsequently, the therapist focuses on reversing this kind of thinking through cognitive restructuring and self-guided expositions (MedCircle, 2019). Additionally, in this form of therapy, the therapist focuses on the individual well-being and perceptions. Consequently, it is imperative to establish a good therapist-patient relationship to encourage the exchange of ideas as well as revealing secrets and core dysfunctional thoughts. The bears the responsibility of the individual patient including issues correlated to privacy and confidentiality. Lastly, effective communication is necessary to facilitate interaction between the therapist and the patient.

On the other hand, family therapy is when cognitive behavioral therapy is carried out in the context of the family. Families form an elemental part of the social support and fabric system. According to Varghese et al. (2020), the mental illness of an individual is a mental illness of his or her family. For instance, the stigma associated with mental illness goes beyond the boundaries of the individual to affect the entire family. Cognitive-behavioral therapy in family settings seeks to family dynamics, conflicts, and distress by improving the systems of interaction among family members (Varghese et al., 2020). The therapist must consider the perceptions of all family members and make decisions that are in the best interest of the entire family (CBT for Couples, 2018).

The family therapist must create a good relationship between family members to unravel the family conflicts and struggles. It is not uncommon for some family members to blame others for the misery in the family which impairs the exchange of ideas during the therapy sessions (Wheeler, 2020). The therapist must maintain the privacy and confidentiality of the family at all costs despite lower levels of privacy and confidentiality compared to in an individual setting. It is the responsibility of the family therapist to assist the family pick out patterns of behaviors that will develop and maintain a functional and healthy family amid mental illness.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy in a group setting differs from individual and family settings. The prosperity of this type of therapy largely relies on the therapist as well as individual group members. The therapist must employ group techniques and strategies to carry out this form of psychotherapy. For instance, a clear sitting arrangement, introduction, agenda, rules, and assurance of confidentiality must be put in place from the onset (PsychExamReview, 2019). Effective communication and strategies to ensure the active participation of each group member are crucial for the success of this psychotherapy.

The levels of privacy are very low compared to the group and individual therapy (Neufeld et al., 2020). This therapy is similar to family therapy regarding issues of responsibility and sharing of information. It is the responsibility of the therapist to ensure that the decision made is in the best interest of the group and not an individual. Besides, some group members may not share their secrets for fear of being blamed or being laughed at. Lastly, it is not uncommon to encounter difficult members in group settings.

Challenges of Applying CBT Across Modalities

Implementation of cognitive-behavioral therapy across family, individual, and group settings is quite problematic. To begin, the therapist must consider the ethical issues related to the different modalities such as informed consent, confidentiality, responsibility, and privacy (Neufeld et al., 2020). The therapist must obtain consent before offering CBT. Besides, confidentiality and privacy across all settings of CBT must be observed. It is the responsibility of the therapist to ensure well being of all the patients without any favoritism.

Furthermore, the application of CBT in family and group settings faces the potential challenge of encountering a difficult member. A difficult family/group member is best removed from the therapy session if conservative methods fail and risks breakage of the group or family cohesion (Chand et al., 2021). Similarly, some members of group and family therapy may hold onto their secrets or rather blame other members of the group which breaks the collective trust and unity.

Effective Strategies

The challenges encountered during the execution of CBT can be handled by deploying a multitude of strategies. For instance, leveraging effective communication tends to encourage all members to actively participate. It further creates good interpersonal relationships that intensify sharing of secrets and ideas during therapy sessions. Aside from effective communication, the therapist should be well organized and utilize techniques for enhancing CBT (Chand et al., 2021). CBT is a well-structured form of psychotherapy that requires the therapist to take full charge of the sessions by vividly spelling out the agenda and the rules of every session.

Techniques of CBT to be utilized include reflection, summarizing, empathy, eye contact, rewarding comments, and comment rounds. Additionally, relaxation and stress reduction guided discovery techniques should also be executed. Lastly, the therapist should have sufficient knowledge background. This includes both self-awareness and recognition of others to understand the different group diversities and personalities and how to manage them. The articles referenced in this writing are scholarly distinguished by publication within the last five years, peer-reviewed, and from recommended sources such as Walden Library and Google Scholar.

Conclusion

The prosperity with which the implementation of CBT achieves its desired therapeutic value depends on the modality, the therapist, and the individual patients. Nurses should acquire the skills and techniques for carrying out an effective CBT.