What is cognitive therapy?
Cognitive therapy is a type of psychotherapy used to treat depression, anxiety and many other mental disorders. Cognitive therapy works within the principle that the ideas, faith systems and distortion affect both the emotions that individuals experience and the intensity of these emotions. This type of therapy involves recognizing and changing harmful patterns and the reaction of ideas. For example, after experienced failure or persecution, one can start to think that he will never succeed. As a result, an individual may be depressed in the future and avoid similar activities. Later Dr. Beck and other scientists have developed other psychiatric problems, including abuse of addictive substances and problems with anger. Originally, cognitive therapy was often compared with behavioral therapy in studies of psychotherapeutic treatment. Today, however, these techniques are often combined by a method called cognitive behavioral therapy. This treatment is not as simple as if you have a patientt thought positive thoughts. Negative thought patterns are often firmly rooted in the psyche of an individual. These thoughts often occur automatically, without the knowledge of the individual who experiences them.
A change in negative thought formulas often requires the process of identifying undesirable beliefs that the individual has about himself and others. Once harmful thoughts have been identified, the affected individual must learn to question them. Cognitive therapy essentially requires the patient to develop new skills, including those involved in the monitoring of the flows of thoughts and submitting attitudes and distortion to more realistic reasoning. The aim is to use these skills the second nature.
Cognitive therapy may be lengthy treatment. There is no change overnight. Some patients may experience satisfactory results in months, while for others it may change over the years. But when the pacIENT tries to use skills developed by therapy in their real life, this method can bring a real and positive change.
Some individuals consider cognitive therapy initially. It is often due to the fact that it will not disappear immediately. The learning and use of skills necessary to change negative thought patterns can initially be demanding. The patient's first attempts may feel embarrassed. With time and application, however, the result of this type of tranrapy is worth exertion.