Wessler’s Cognitive Appraisal Therapy

A type of psychological therapy focused especially on patients with personality disorders.

Wessler's Cognitive Appraisal Therapy was developed by the psychologist Richard Wessler, and is focused on the treatment of different personality disorders.

In this article we will learn about its principles and some of its most important components, as well as its guidelines for three different disorders: histrionic, narcissistic and dependent personality.

Wessler's cognitive appraisal therapy: characteristics.

The therapy of cognitive valuation of Wessler consists of a therapy of cognitive-behavioral orientation, aimed at treating personality disorders through an integrated approach..

This approach integrates three types of processes: interpersonal, cognitive and affective. That is to say, cognitive aspects of oneself, others and situations, since it considers that cognitions play an essential role in emotions and actions.It considers that cognitions play an essential role in the emotions and actions we carry out. But it is also the other way around, i.e. emotions have an important influence on our cognitions and thoughts (this idea comes from Aaron Beck's cognitive model).

Specifically, the therapy is aimed at providing the patient with an introspection or self-knowledge that helps him to feel better and to solve his own difficulties on his own. Its procedure is based mainly on suggesting, encouraging and providing explanations for the patient's actions..

Approach in psychotherapy

Wessler's cognitive appraisal therapy approach, as we have seen, is integrative. In addition, the therapy starts from a motivational approach and presupposes that behavior is emotion-driven..

The therapy is based on theories of social learning and interpersonal therapy, as well as including elements of constructivism. It is designed to treat different personality disorders in a specific way.

Its techniques include components of client-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy and Ellis' TREC.

Psychological components

Some of the most important components of Wessler's cognitive appraisal therapy are:

1. The therapeutic relationship

This should be warm and accepting, as well as include appropriate self-revelations by the therapist. by the therapist. Therapy places an essential value on the therapist for therapeutic change to occur.

2. Attention to emotions

Wessler's therapy gives special value to emotions, especially shame and self-pity..

These emotions can be used by the patient himself to justify his actions, so it is important that the therapist gives adequate information about their nature, in order for the patient to take responsibility for his own actions.

3. Personal rules of life

This is an essential assumption in this therapy; these rules guide the person in his relations between the cognitive and the social, ethics and morals, and therefore end up guiding his thoughts and actions as well.

Wessler's cognitive appraisal therapy pays attention to the patient's personal rules of life, with the aim of identifying them and helping to modify them if they are distorted. modify them in case they are distorting the patient's reality, or are causing him/her suffering..

4. Safety-seeking maneuvers

These are the actions that the patient develops and that produce certain emotions; these, in turn, eventually lead him to experience a sense of security. They can be behavioral or interpersonal.

Therapy also focuses on them, because they provide many clues about how the patient is, thinks and feels.

Personality disorders in which it is applied

As we have seen, Wessler's cognitive appraisal therapy treats different personality disorders. Let's see what its specific assumptions are like in three different disorders:

1. histrionic personality.

Let's look at some of the guidelines that the therapy follows for this type of patient.

First of all, it is important that the therapist focuses on working with the patient without reinforcing his or her histrionic behavior; this can be done by showing attention and interest at the beginning of the therapeutic relationship, and once the bond has been established (being more solid), shift the focus to a more empathic one..

This will be done by reflecting the feelings that the person really has, rather than the dramatic emotions that he or she "interprets" or pretends to have. On the other hand, the therapist will focus on helping the patient to be calm, without getting carried away or "swept away" by the appealing stories the patient tells.

The main techniques that the therapist will use with the histrionic patient will be: self-revelation, so that the patient does not lose touch with reality; reframing the patient's verbalizations and the use of humor to deflate his melodramatic style.

2. Narcissistic personality

For this type of patient, it will be important to address the patient's sense of being able to demand whatever he/she wants from others, through self-disclosureThe aim is to create dissonances between the patient's version of reality (private) and the therapist's version, considered socially adequate.

We will also work on this point by encouraging the patient to feel responsible for his actions, increasing his self-confidence and encouraging him to see himself as capable of achieving what he sets out to do without the need to take advantage of others.

3. Dependent personality

In dependent personality disorder, Wessler's cognitive appraisal therapy is focused on encouraging such patients to stop being passive and to focus on pleasing themselves rather than constantly trying to please others.rather than constantly trying to please and please others. Such goals can be set from the outset.

Other techniques will be to encourage the patient to take risks outside therapy, to stand up for his rights (enhancing his assertiveness) and to make decisions on his own, without depending on the approval of others to do so.

In other words, the ultimate goal will be for the patient to learn to be independent; in this way, the therapist will try to make the patient "be his own therapist", increasing his autonomy and self-determination, and helping him/her to set limits in his/her personal relationships..