Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
I have stated before that one of the purposes of my blog is to raise awareness about Psychology on this platform, and consequently debunk misconceptions about mental health. Of course, for this, one of the things I would like my readers to accept is that psychology is not a field entrenched within the boundaries of psychoanalysis, and that talking psychology goes way beyond than talking Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.
The reason why I have pointed this out in my introduction is because in this post I will discuss Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - CBT. A therapeutic approach rooted in the principles of conditioning (learning) theories, which were first proposed by the now known ͚radical behaviourists͛– Pavlov, Wolpe, Skinner – the very figures who disapproved of the theoretical and subjective methods of psychoanalyses and worked towards turning psychology into a study that is more observable, objective and measurable.
This is precisely what Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is, and its rapid development is largely to do with its empirical grounding. CBT has demonstrated to be very effective in the treatment of conditions such as OCD, panic disorders and depression. So, this is when I should introduce you to Mr. B, a 50-year-old real client who suffered from comorbid major depression and OCD.
Emotions according to CBT
But, before we further explore Mr. B͛s case, let us first see how cognitive behavioural therapy makes sense of emotions, specifically sadness.
In CBT difficult feelings such as sadness (and anxiety) are seen not only as normal, but also as healthy reactions to the environment and life in general. However, when someone experiences such feelings in their most extreme, they can develop avoidant behaviour (for example, stop engaging in daily activities), which will inevitably distance them from family and friends; in turn, causing feeling of detachment that in most cases leads to suicidal thoughts.
This is precisely what happened to Mr. B, who had been divorced for nearly a decade, with no subsequent romantic relationships, jobless for the past six months, and only saw his teenage children every other weekend. Mr. B lived on his own making ends meet with a disability pension and had been contemplating suicide.