Theoretical Orientation Essay Example

coping, social, and problem-solving skills. CBT frequently uses behavioral interventions such as activity scheduling and graded task assignments to reactivate the client, and can contain elements of exposure and response prevention to interrupt the avoidant behaviors that play a central role in maintaining the disorder. CBT also may include efforts to improve coping behavior and other skills (Wright 6). My role as the social worker is quite important.

The primary task is to engage the client in identifying cognitive errors, refuting them, and replacing them with more adaptive thoughts. A sound therapeutic relationship is necessary for effective therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapists believe it is important to have a good, trusting relationship, but I know that is not nearly enough. We believe that the clients change because they learn how to think differently and they act on that learning. Therefore, CBT tries and focuses on teaching rational self-counseling skills. CBT is the teamwork that exists between the therapist and the client.

This form of therapy is used to seek ways of learning what their clients want out of life and then helping their clients achieve those goals. The therapist's role is to listen, teach, and encourage, while the client's roles is to express concerns, learn, and implement that learning (Pucci1). The task of CBT is to understand how the three components of emotions, behaviors and thoughts interrelate, and how they may be influenced by external stimuli which include events which may have occurred early in the client’s life. Cognitive-behavioral therapy by far does not in any way tell people how they should feel.

In other words, it is not the stimulus itself which somehow elicits

an emotional response directly, but our evaluation of or thought about that stimulus. However, when most people seek this type of therapy, they want to rid themselves of the ways they have been feeling. CBT also puts emphasis on the fact that we have our undesirable situations whether we allow them to upset us or not. Basically saying that if we are upset about our problems, we then have two problems: #1 the original problem, and #2 ourselves being upset about it.

Humans like to have less problems as possible, and when we learn how to more calmly accept a personal problem, not only do we feel better, but we usually put ourselves in a better position to make smart, knowledgeable, and factual answers to solve the problem (Mulhauser). Cognitive-behavioral therapy is considered among the most rapid in terms of results obtained. The average number of sessions clients receive is only about 16. CBT is structured, directive, and time-limited in that clients are helped to understand at the very beginning of the therapy process that there will be a point when the formal therapy will end.

The ending of the formal therapy is a decision made by the therapist and client. Therefore, CBT is not an open-ended, never-ending process. Many methods are used in CBT. One method is that called stoicism, which emerged from the Greek and Roman world and argued that the mind (or soul) must be something that obeys the laws of physics (Rubarth). Not all approaches to CBT emphasize stoicism though. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Rational Behavior Therapy, and Rational Living Therapy emphasizes aspects of stoicism.

Beck's Cognitive Therapy is

not based on stoicism. Another method is the Socratic Method. This is when we as a therapist want to gain a very good understanding of our clients' concerns and therefore ask many questions. Therapist also encourage their clients to ask questions of themselves as well. Yet another method used is an educational model. Most emotional and behavioral reactions are learned. Therefore, the goal of therapy is to help clients unlearn their unwanted reactions and to learn a new way of reacting.

It often times lead to long term results because when people understand how and why they are doing well, they know what to do to continue doing well. The last method I am going to discuss is the Inductive Method. This method encourages us to look at our thoughts as being hypotheses that can be questioned and tested. If we find that our hypotheses are incorrect due to getting new information, then we can change our thinking to be in line with how the situation really is. Homework is a central technique and part of therapy and must be explained to the client why they should partake in it.

Goal achievement could take a very long time if the topics taught are not constantly being brought up which is why therapists assign reading assignments and encourage their clients to practice the techniques learned (Pucci 2). In my personal opinion there are many issues that may relate to dysfunction or abnormal behavior once treatment is administered or even before. The dysfunctional thought record or DTR is solely responsible for identifying different changes in the client and helping them to come back to a

level area.

The DTR has clients monitor their emotions, notice when there is a change in their emotion by writing it down, write down what went through their mind at the time, and how much did they actually believe this. Its help them label emotions, rate the intensity of the emotion, and move on to alternative responses. Cognitive distortions can also cause disruptions in therapy; these include the following: all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, discounting the positive, inappropriate blaming, personalization, jumping to conclusions, mind-reading, fortune telling, and magnifying/minimizing (Unknown).

There are some problems with CBT as with all things. Some problems with CBT are that people want to treat it as a quick fix and it is not that, many times people are already very depressed and just cannot see where this therapy will benefit them, they refuse to confront their problems, and the client is in control of whether or not they want to come so that is another issue all in itself. CBT is not for everyone and other forms of therapy may be necessary.

Antidepressants are often given as a form of treatment, and in relation to CBT, they are running a close tie. CBT is as effective as antidepressants and may be slightly more effecting than antidepressants. Many times they go hand in hand in treating certain disorders, but in actuality cognitive behavior therapy is the better choice (Blenkiron). Throughout this paper my position has remained the same in the basic understanding that I chose Cognitive-Behavior Therapy as my theoretical orientation.

I have integrated cognitive therapy and behavior therapy and explained the importance of my approach. I have backed

up my standing and informed you on the key concepts, my role as a social worker, therapeutic goals, relationship issues, and methods used. I even went as far as to tell you in my personal opinion what healthy development is, factors regarding those whose therapy becomes dysfunctional, how change occurs, and what helps the client to grow and overcome their overt ways of thinking and replace it with more maladaptive responses.

CBT provides therapists with a wide assortment of possible interventions. Cognitive-Behavior therapists stress the importance of empirical research, and prefer interventions that have been validated by controlled studies. These approaches are highly compatible and come in many different variations, most importantly Cognitive-Behavior Therapy is one of today’s most popular approaches to psychotherapy.