Cognitive behavioral therapy involves combining cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy, a type of psychotherapy developed in the 1960s that focuses on how the person treats and interprets situations and can lead to suffering.
Interpretations, representations or attribution of meaning to certain situations or people are reflected in automatic thoughts, which in turn activate basic unconscious structures: patterns and beliefs.
- Thus.
- This type of approach aims to identify dysfunctional beliefs and thoughts.
- Called cognitive distortions.
- Verifies reality and corrects it.
- In order to change those distorted beliefs underlying those thoughts.
Behavioral therapy focuses on current cognitive distortions, without ruling out past situations, helping the person change behavior, beliefs, and distortions in relation to the situation that causes the suffering and emotional reaction they have in that circumstance, by learning a new story.react.
At first, the psychologist makes a complete story to understand the patient’s mental state, during the sessions there is an active participation between the therapist and the patient, which talks about what concerns him and where the psychologist focuses on the problems that interfere with his life, as well as the interpretations or meanings attributed to them , helping to understand these problems; This corrects inappropriate patterns of behavior and promotes personality development.
Cognitive distortions are distorted ways in which people have to interpret certain everyday situations and that have negative consequences on their lives.
The same situation can trigger various interpretations and behaviors, but in general, people with cognitive distortions always interpret them negatively.
The most common cognitive distortions are
Understand and see examples of each of these cognitive distortions.