Cognitive restructuring
 | This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009) |
Cognitive restructuring in cognitive therapy is the process of learning to refute cognitive distortions, or fundamental "faulty thinking," with the goal of replacing one's irrational, counter-factual beliefs with more accurate and beneficial ones.
The cognitive restructuring theory holds that your own unrealistic beliefs are directly responsible for generating dysfunctional emotions and their resultant behaviors, like stress, depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal, and that we humans can be rid of such emotions and their effects by dismantling the beliefs that give them life. Because one sets unachievable goals — "Everyone must love me; I have to be thoroughly competent; I have to be the best in everything" — a fear of failure results. Cognitive restructuring then advises to change such irrational beliefs and substitute more rational ones: "I can fail. Although it would be nice, I didn't have to be the best in everything." [Ellis and Harper, 1975; Ellis 1998]
This is accomplished by leading the subject to:
- Gain awareness of detrimental thought habits
- Learn to challenge them
- Substitute life-enhancing thoughts and beliefs
The rationale used in cognitive restructuring attempts to strengthen the client's belief that 1) 'self-talk' can influence performance, and 2) in particular self-defeating thoughts or negative self-statements can cause emotional distress and interfere with performance, a process that then repeats again in a cycle.
Contents
Clinical applications
Anger management
Anger management programs have used cognitive restructuring to help high-anger drivers stay calm and collected. Anger control training combines cognitive restructuring with social skills training, thus helping the chronically angry to overcome their rage that arises in specific situations as well as their general anger against themselves, loved ones and the world in general. Interestingly, Cognitive Restructuring has also shown great beneficence in the pre-release preparations of criminals, reducing recidivism.
Depression
An example of how cognitive restructuring can be used in treating clinical depression is to find a statement that describes the cause of the depression, such as " No one likes me " and to challenge this, "People have liked me, my family do like me, I get along with work colleagues " and turn this into a positive affirmation "People have liked me, it is likely people will like me again, therefore I am a likeable person." Some refer to this general technique as “reframing” or “frame-breaking “. In clinical depression the triggers of the feelings of hopelessness and helplessness are often concealed, and using cognitive therapy and communicating in words about what the causes of the feelings are makes it possible to identify triggers. Thought processes are activated by external stimuli[citation needed] and so finding what external stimuli activate these thought processes restructures the way the mind deals with triggering stimuli. For example, if being at a party where everybody is laughing and dancing causes depression, cognitive therapy investigates the thought process that is triggered by the external stimuli. A statement about the stimuli explaining the trigger is: "I do not know how to dance, I will never be as happy as those people." and a restructuring statement is: "I want to learn how to dance." This is a way of changing a belief from a negative to a positive one and may be helpful in the treatment of depression.[citation needed]
Social phobia
Cognitive restructuring (CR), integrated with exposure techniques, is used in Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) to break the cycle of social anxiety. CR is used to conquer social phobia both in the therapist's office and in the client’s daily life. Under the therapist's direction, clients are guided through cognitive restructuring before, during, and after in-session exposures to high-anxiety social situations. Then for homework, clients are asked to engage in cognitive restructuring activities before, during, and after each assigned in vivo exposure.
Trauma victim anxiety
Cognitive restructuring, in combination with other techniques, has been used successfully to reduce anxiety in many people from trauma victims to students suffering from test anxiety to diabetes-related issues. It has also helped patients struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), substance abuse habits and non-generalized social phobia.
Non-clinical applications
CR is used extensively in the life skills curriculum created by ACCI for rehabilitating both juvenile and adult criminals. In line with other forms of cognitive restructing, ACCI works on the premise that crime is a result of faulty thinking, and therefore, can be "cured" through cognitive restructuring.
Sources
See also
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Portal/images/t' not found.
