Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a psychological model which works on the principle that the emotions that we experience depend on our thought processes, or ‘cognitions’.
For example, Imagine that you are walking down the street and see a friend across the road, who you wave to. The friend continues walking down the street. If you start responding to this situation with thoughts such as ‘s/he is ignoring me’, ‘s/he does not want to talk to me’, ‘s/he is angry with me’, you will have corresponding feelings of upset, anger, resentment and so on.
However, if you respond with the thought that maybe they did not see you, you will be unlikely to experience a significant mood change.
We know that negative or unhelpful behaviour stems from distressing emotions - CBT therefore works on the assumption that if a person can be helped to challenge their negative thoughts, they will manage their emotions more positively, and this in turn will lead to positive behaviour change.
There are 3 'levels' of cognition: 'Core beliefs', 'Rules of Living' and 'Negative Automatic Thoughts' e.g. a 'Core Belief' might be 'I am a good at sport' or 'I am not confident'; 'Rules of Living' include statemenrs such as 'I won't talk to someone unless they talk to me'.
There are a number of techniques that can be employed to challenge and address core beliefs and rules of living, they include Behavioural Techniques e.g. asking the person to write a diary for a week to help them realise that more activity positively changes their mood.
There are obvious, researched, benefits for vulnerable children and adults; but CBT can also be used to assist teams and organisations to undertake changes.
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