A Clinical Strategy to Strengthen the Connection Between Cognition, Emotion, and Behavior: From Philosophical Principles to Psychotherapy Practice

AbstractHelping clients gain insight into the ways in which their thinking influences the expression of emotional distress and maladaptive behavior is an important goal of CBT-based psychotherapies. However, efforts to establish this insight into the connection between dysfunctional beliefs and the consequences of having them (i.e., B –C connection) are often met with resistance. To address this issue in practice, therapists can draw upon certain existential principles underpinning CBT theory. More specifically, practitioners can use the concepts of existential freedom and responsibility, contained in the rational-humanistic vi ew of rational-emotive behavior therapy, to complement current disputation strategies in the object to establish the B–C connection and, importantly, to facilitate cognitive change. Employing in practice what is postulated in theory in such cases is apt to provide individuals with a larger context of human agency in which to consider cognitive mediation.
Source: Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research