COGNITIVE Behavioral THERAPY: Beliefs as Related to Eating Disorders
Long-Term Cognitive Process: Beliefs
The short-term mental events that we have examined-expectations, appraisals, and attributions-are available to consciousness, Long-term cognitive processes are different. They are hypothetical constructs, inferred
dispositions that govern the mental events now in consciousness. One of these long-term cognitive processes is beliefs.
Albert Ellis, the founder of rational-emotive therapy, argues that psychological disorder stems largely from irrational beliefs. Over the course of a lifetime, a client had had a set of destructive beliefs in stilled in him by his parents and by society. Among these are the ideas that: (1) it is a dire necessity for an adult human being to be loved or approved by virtually every significant other person in his community; (2) one should be thoroughly competent, adequate , and achieving in all possible respects in order to be worthwhile; (3) it is awful and catastrophic when things are not the way one would very much like them to be; (4) human unhappiness is externally caused, and we have little or no ability to control our own sorrows; (5) our past history is an all-important determinant of our present behavior; if some thing once strongly affected our life, it should always have a similar effect; and (6) there is in variably a right, precise, and perfect solution to human problems, and it is catastrophic if this perfect solution is not found (Ellis, 1962).
These irrational and illogical beliefs shape the short -term distorted expectations, appraisals, and attributions that produce psychological disorder. The client is afflicted with a "tyranny of should’s" and the job of the therapist is to break the hold of these " should's." Once the patient abandons the above beliefs, it is impossible for him to remain disturbed. T he job of the therapist is to rid the individual of these beliefs. The therapy is an aggressive one. It makes a concerted attack on the client' s beliefs in two ways: (1) the therapist is a frank counter-propagandist who contradicts superstitions and self-defeating propagandist a embodied in the irrational beliefs of the patient, and (2) the rapist encourages, persuades, cajoles, and occasionally insists that the patient engage in behavior that will itself be forceful counter-propaganda against their rational beliefs (Ellis, 1962).
This particular brand of cognitive therapy is called rational-emotive therapy, and it is among the most active and aggressive of psychotherapeutic procedures. The following case illustrates the force of the rape uticpersuasion:
During his therapy session, a twenty-three-year-old man said that t he was very depressed and did not know why. A little questioning showed that this severely neurotic patient, whose main presenting problem was that he had been doing too much drinking during the last two years, had been putting off the inventory keeping he was required to do as part of his job as an apprentice glass-staining artist.
PATIENT: I know that I should do the inventory before it piles up to enormous proportions, but I just keep putting it off. To be honest, I guess it's because 1resent
doing it so much.
THERAPIST: But why do you resent it so much?
PATIENT: It's boring. I just don' t like it.
THERAPIST: SO it' s boring. That's a good reason for disliking this work, but is it an equally good reason for resenting it?
PATIENT: Aren't the two the same thing?
THERAPIST: By no means dislike equals the sentence, " I don't enjoy doing this thing, and therefore I don't want to do it." And that's a perfectly sane sentence in most instances. But resentment is the sentence, "Because I dislike doing this thing, I shouldn't have to do it." And that' s invariably a very crazy sentence.
PATIENT: Why is it so crazy to resent something that you don't like to do?
THERAPIST: There are several reasons first of all, from a purely logical standpoint it just makes no sense at all to say to yourself, " Because I dislike doing this thing, I shouldn't have to do it. " The second part of this sentence just doesn't follow in any way from the first part. Your reasoning goes something like this: "Because I dislike doing this thing, other people and the universe should be so considerate of me that they should never make me do what I dislike." But, of course, this doesn't make any sense. Why should other people and the universe be that considerate of you? It might be nice if they were. But why the devil should they be? In order for your reasoning to be true, the entire universe, and all the people in it, would really have to revolve around and be uniquely considerate of you. (Ellis, 1962)
Here the therapist directly attacks the client's belief, arguing that it is irrational.
This is an important distinction between cognitive therapists, on the one hand, and behavioral or dynamic therapists on the other. Behavioral and dynamic therapists point out that a client's actions and beliefs are maladaptive and self-defeating. Cognitive therapists emphasize that, in addition, the beliefs are irrational and illogical.
The short-term mental events that we have examined-expectations, appraisals, and attributions-are available to consciousness, Long-term cognitive processes are different. They are hypothetical constructs, inferred
dispositions that govern the mental events now in consciousness. One of these long-term cognitive processes is beliefs.
Albert Ellis, the founder of rational-emotive therapy, argues that psychological disorder stems largely from irrational beliefs. Over the course of a lifetime, a client had had a set of destructive beliefs in stilled in him by his parents and by society. Among these are the ideas that: (1) it is a dire necessity for an adult human being to be loved or approved by virtually every significant other person in his community; (2) one should be thoroughly competent, adequate , and achieving in all possible respects in order to be worthwhile; (3) it is awful and catastrophic when things are not the way one would very much like them to be; (4) human unhappiness is externally caused, and we have little or no ability to control our own sorrows; (5) our past history is an all-important determinant of our present behavior; if some thing once strongly affected our life, it should always have a similar effect; and (6) there is in variably a right, precise, and perfect solution to human problems, and it is catastrophic if this perfect solution is not found (Ellis, 1962).
These irrational and illogical beliefs shape the short -term distorted expectations, appraisals, and attributions that produce psychological disorder. The client is afflicted with a "tyranny of should’s" and the job of the therapist is to break the hold of these " should's." Once the patient abandons the above beliefs, it is impossible for him to remain disturbed. T he job of the therapist is to rid the individual of these beliefs. The therapy is an aggressive one. It makes a concerted attack on the client' s beliefs in two ways: (1) the therapist is a frank counter-propagandist who contradicts superstitions and self-defeating propagandist a embodied in the irrational beliefs of the patient, and (2) the rapist encourages, persuades, cajoles, and occasionally insists that the patient engage in behavior that will itself be forceful counter-propaganda against their rational beliefs (Ellis, 1962).
This particular brand of cognitive therapy is called rational-emotive therapy, and it is among the most active and aggressive of psychotherapeutic procedures. The following case illustrates the force of the rape uticpersuasion:
During his therapy session, a twenty-three-year-old man said that t he was very depressed and did not know why. A little questioning showed that this severely neurotic patient, whose main presenting problem was that he had been doing too much drinking during the last two years, had been putting off the inventory keeping he was required to do as part of his job as an apprentice glass-staining artist.
PATIENT: I know that I should do the inventory before it piles up to enormous proportions, but I just keep putting it off. To be honest, I guess it's because 1resent
doing it so much.
THERAPIST: But why do you resent it so much?
PATIENT: It's boring. I just don' t like it.
THERAPIST: SO it' s boring. That's a good reason for disliking this work, but is it an equally good reason for resenting it?
PATIENT: Aren't the two the same thing?
THERAPIST: By no means dislike equals the sentence, " I don't enjoy doing this thing, and therefore I don't want to do it." And that's a perfectly sane sentence in most instances. But resentment is the sentence, "Because I dislike doing this thing, I shouldn't have to do it." And that' s invariably a very crazy sentence.
PATIENT: Why is it so crazy to resent something that you don't like to do?
THERAPIST: There are several reasons first of all, from a purely logical standpoint it just makes no sense at all to say to yourself, " Because I dislike doing this thing, I shouldn't have to do it. " The second part of this sentence just doesn't follow in any way from the first part. Your reasoning goes something like this: "Because I dislike doing this thing, other people and the universe should be so considerate of me that they should never make me do what I dislike." But, of course, this doesn't make any sense. Why should other people and the universe be that considerate of you? It might be nice if they were. But why the devil should they be? In order for your reasoning to be true, the entire universe, and all the people in it, would really have to revolve around and be uniquely considerate of you. (Ellis, 1962)
Here the therapist directly attacks the client's belief, arguing that it is irrational.
This is an important distinction between cognitive therapists, on the one hand, and behavioral or dynamic therapists on the other. Behavioral and dynamic therapists point out that a client's actions and beliefs are maladaptive and self-defeating. Cognitive therapists emphasize that, in addition, the beliefs are irrational and illogical.
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If you are serious about changing,
I encourage you to schedule a FREE CONSULTATION with the treatment method I recommend:
http://www.theliberatormethod.com/Welcome.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Cognition
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Enhanced Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-E)
Cognitive remediation therapy (CRT)
Conjoint Family Therapy (CFT)
Contingency Management
Coping Skills/Mechanisms
Dance/movement therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
Egodystonic
Egosyntonic
Emotional eating
Empowerment
Enmeshment
Experiential or expressive therapies
Exposure with Response Prevention & Exposure Meals/Foods
Externalization
Family Based Therapy (FBT)
Family Systems Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Enhanced Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-E)
Cognitive remediation therapy (CRT)
Conjoint Family Therapy (CFT)
Contingency Management
Coping Skills/Mechanisms
Dance/movement therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
Egodystonic
Egosyntonic
Emotional eating
Empowerment
Enmeshment
Experiential or expressive therapies
Exposure with Response Prevention & Exposure Meals/Foods
Externalization
Family Based Therapy (FBT)
Family Systems Therapy