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1. CBT: Cognitive Behavioral therapy
• Definition: CBT is
a psychotherapeutic approach
that uses a combination of
behavioural & cognitive
therapies that addresses
dysfunctional
emotions, maladaptive
behaviours and cognitive
processes through goal-directed
& systematic procedures.
• CBT uses practical self-help
strategies and it is based on the
assumption that the way people
behave is based on the way they
think

2. CBT: How is it used?
• CBT aims to teach people that it is
possible to have control over their
thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
• Thus it helps the person to challenge and
overcome automatic beliefs, and use
practical strategies to change or modify
their behaviour.
• The result is more positive
feelings, which in turn lead to more
positive thoughts and behaviours.
• Thus CBT is a learning process
• CBT is thought to be effective for the
treatment of a variety of conditions
including:
• Phobias,
• Addictions (e.g Pathological gambling)
• Schizophrenia
• Depression

3. Cognitive vs Behavioural therapy
Cognitive
therapy Behavioral
Focuses on therapy
identifying & Provides
changing the strategies/
distorted skills to modify
thinking behaviour e.g.
(cognition) that desensitisation
maintains the
condition

4. Cognitive Therapy
• Cognitive therapy aims to change the way the
person thinks about the triggers of their disorder.
• Because it is the negative cognitions that cause
self-destructive feelings and maladaptive
behaviour.
• Thus the Cognitive therapy challenges those
thoughts.
• It is basically a talking therapy
• One approach is cognitive restructuring – which
involves asking the person to come up with
evidence to ‘prove’ their maladaptive thoughts.
• Thus the patient learns to firstly identify and
challenge negative thoughts,
• then replace them with more realistic and positive
thoughts.

5. Behavioural Therapy
Behavioural therapy teaches the patient the necessary skills
to modify their behaviour in a way that makes it adaptive
rather than maladaptive
.
So the negative cognitions and emotions decrease as the
patients learns that they can function in social situations.

6. Example of CBT – for a germ phobia
1. Identifying your negative thoughts. With anxiety disorders, situations are
perceived as more dangerous than they really are. E.g. shaking another person’s
. hand can seem life threatening. Identifying your own irrational, scary thoughts
can be very difficult. One strategy is to ask yourself what you were thinking
when you started feeling anxious. Your therapist will help you with this step.
2. Challenging your negative thoughts. In the second step, your therapist will teach
you how to evaluate your anxiety-provoking thoughts. This involves questioning
the evidence for your frightening thoughts, analyzing unhelpful beliefs, and
testing out the reality of negative predictions. Strategies for challenging
negative thoughts include conducting experiments, weighing the pros and cons
of worrying or avoiding the thing you fear, and determining the realistic chances
that what you’re anxious about will actually happen when you shake someone’s
hands..
3. Replacing negative thoughts with realistic thoughts. Once you’ve identified the
irrational predictions and negative distortions in your anxious thoughts, you can
replace them with new thoughts that are more accurate and positive. Your
therapist may also help you come up with realistic, calming statements you can
say to yourself when you’re facing or anticipating a situation that normally
sends your anxiety levels soaring - ‘I won’t become ill when I shake someone’s
hand’.