Counseling Influences: Part 3 - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the third of my four major counseling influences.  To review my first two blogs in this series, check out my blog on Adlerian Theory and Biblical Counseling.  Adlerian Theory helps to explain the framework with which I conceptualize the span of care for each client; whereas Biblical Counseling is the worldview in every area of life - including counseling.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT for short, is more the nuts and bolts of my counseling conversations.  It focuses on a person's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.  The goal of this type of therapy is to identify behaviors that are negatively effecting the client's life and work backward to find an irrational thought or belief, replace it with a true statement, and then to reinforce the trickle-down effect of choosing to belief the truth.  In CBT, it is helpful to remember that thoughts effect both emotions and behaviors, emotions effect both thoughts and behaviors, and behaviors (and more importantly consequences from behaviors) effect thoughts and emotions as illustrated below:

CBT relies heavily on client participation to think deeply, and sometimes uncomfortably, about ingrained thought patterns and beliefs.  It often takes work to evaluate, identify, reframe, and practice new ways of thinking to see a permanent change in behaviors, mood, and relationships.  In my mind, CBT is part introspection and self-knowledge, part speaking truth to false beliefs, and part behavior modification.

If you'd like a more thorough overview of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or specific skills to use in a CBT session, check out the National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists and the Beck Institute.

Check back later for our last in this series of counseling influences, which will cover Family Systems Theory.