Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders

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crowyhead, March 25, 2008 (view all comments by crowyhead)
Since I'm currently seeing a therapist who practices cognitive behavioral therapy, and since Aaron Beck is still involved with the University of Pennsylvania (where my therapist was trained and works), I was curious to read some of his original writings on cognitive therapy. This book was originally published nearly thirty years ago, so there were some holes in it that, were it written today, Beck probably would have discussed. For example, there is very little discussion of the potential biological factors of depression and other emotional disorders; when Beck writes about depression, it seems as though it is something that just arises spontaneously in some individuals, with little discussion of possible causes.

This somewhat fits with the cognitive therapy model, however; it seems very commonsensical now, but when it was first conceived, it was really quite revolutionary when set against the model of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis was and is mainly about uncovering buried feelings and past incidents that may have given rise to the patient's current mental state. Cognitive therapy, on the other hand, mainly deals with studying the way a patient tends to think right now, and identifying automatic thought patterns that exacerbate their condition. That is, most people have thought patterns that are not necessarily unconscious, but are so ingrained that they fall into them without really realizing it or examining these thoughts. For example, someone who's depressed may have a tendency to fall into a repetitive thought pattern of "oh my god, I suck at this, I'm never going to succeed and I'm going to flunk out" every time they receive a bad grade on an assignment -- even if they are by and large a good student and these thoughts are not realistic. So the goal of cognitive therapy is to get the patient to be aware of what exactly it is that's running through their head, and then help them to derail the automatic thoughts that make their condition worse. To me, it makes a lot of good, intuitive sense, and it was really interesting to read this book and learn about some of the roots of the technique. I am curious, however, about Beck's thoughts on the combination of antidepressants and cognitive therapy; he touches on this subject occasionally, but since it was written prior to the invention of Prozac, antidepressants weren't as widespread and weren't as much of a therapeutic option.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780452009288

Author:

Beck, Aaron T.

Publisher:

Plume

Author:

Beck, Aaron T.

Location:

New York :

Subject:

Medical sciences

Subject:

Methodology

Subject:

Psychiatry and psychoanalysis

Subject:

Psychiatry

Subject:

Psychology, pathological

Subject:

Cognition

Subject:

Cognitive therapy

Subject:

Psychotherapy - General

Subject:

Methodology x

Subject:

Movements - Behaviorism

Subject:

Cognitive Psychology

Subject:

General Psychology & Psychiatry

Subject:

Psychology : General

Copyright:

1979

Edition Description:

Mass Market

Publication Date:

19791001

Binding:

Paperback

Grade Level:

from 12

Language:

English

Illustrations:

Yes

Pages:

368

Dimensions:

8 x 5.32 x 0.99 in 0.64 lb

Age Level:

from 18