Types of cognitive therapy: what are they and what are their characteristics?

We explain the basics of these types of therapy, and their relationship with cognitive-behavioral therapies.

The way we think, the way we process information from our environment and turn it into our own mental schemes, conditions us when we feel and act. Such is the weight of our thoughts that the generation of distorted ideas can lead to some kind of psychological condition such as anxiety or depression.

This fact was the driving force behind the creation of different types of cognitive therapies.. Thanks to them, the patient can learn effective skills and strategies that help him to modify the way in which he thinks and, therefore, in which he feels and behaves.

What is cognitive therapy?

The term "cognitive" refers to a person's thought processes, including attention, learning, planning, judgment and decision-making. include attention, learning, planning, judgment, and decision-making.. Cognitive therapy, therefore, is a type of psychological therapy that considers that some mental and emotional disorders or conditions are intimately linked to cognitive processes.

This means that, according to the theories that frame the different types of cognitive therapies, people suffer and develop psychological conditions because of the way in which they interpret the environment and the events that happen to them and not because of the nature of these in themselves.

Therefore, the mission of psychological intervention through cognitive therapy is for the patient to be able to find flexible, functional, and functional interpretations of his or her environment and events. able to find flexible, functional and adaptive interpretations of the life events he/she experiences. he/she experiences.

Other interpretations of cognitive therapy describe it as the practical implementation of cognitive psychology, which holds a psychological conception in relation to the different mental processes and from an intrapsychic point of view. In other words, it is understood that there are a series of different elements within the mind of each person that make them different from others.

Main types of cognitive therapy

The choice of one type of cognitive therapy over another is usually subject to the recognition of the different needs of the patient. The different types of cognitive therapy are not only intervention techniques, but also form a whole framework of cognitive therapy. They make up a whole network of applied science that can take different that can take different forms depending on the objectives to be achieved.

Throughout the history of psychology, different types of cognitive therapies have been developed. However, there are two that stand out above the rest, these are Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy, which emphasizes automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions; and Albert Ellis' rational emotive behavioral therapy, in which irrational ideas are worked on.

Both cognitive therapies encompass a whole set of therapeutic techniques and strategies, as well as a methodology that distinguishes them. But always adjusting to a scientific and rigorous method.

1. Cognitive therapy of A. Beck (CT)

Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy is a type of psychotherapy, developed in the 1960s by the American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck. This type of therapy is based on the cognitive model, which states that thoughts, feelings and behaviors are closely connected and that, therefore, people can overcome their difficulties and reach their goals, people can overcome their difficulties and achieve their goals. identifying and changing unhelpful or incorrect thoughts.

To achieve such modification, the patient must work collaboratively with the therapist to develop all kinds of skills to identify the distorted thoughts and beliefs and then modify them.

In the early days of Beck's cognitive therapy, he focused on the treatment of depression by drawing up a list of mental errors or distortions. a list of mental errors or cognitive distortions that caused the depressed mood.. These included arbitrary inference, selective abstraction, overgeneralization, or the magnification of negative thoughts and minimization of positive ones.

However, with the advance in the practice and research of this type of therapy, it has been observed that it can be extremely effective in the treatment of many other psychological and mental disorders among which we find:

• Addictions.
• Anxiety disorder..
• Bipolar disorder.
• Phobias.
• Low self-esteem..
• Suicidal ideations.
• Schizophrenia.
• Weight loss.

Method: cognitive restructuring

The way in which the professional gets the person to learn and practice these skills independently is known as cognitive restructuring.

Cognitive restructuring consists of an intervention technique in which the patient identifies and questions his or her irrational or maladaptive thoughts, known as cognitive distortions.known as cognitive distortions. The steps in conducting cognitive restructuring include:

• Identification of problematic thoughts.
• Identification of the cognitive distortions within these thoughts.
• Questioning, using the Socratic method, of these distortions.
• Development of a rational argument for these distorted thoughts.

2. Ellis Rational-Emotive-Behavioral Therapy (ERBT)

Halfway between cognitive therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy we find Ellis' rational-emotive-behavioral therapy. It was first exposed in 1950 by the American psychotherapist and psychologist Albert Ellis, who inspired by the teachings of different Greek, Roman and Asian philosophers to develop this type of cognitive-behavioral therapy. to develop this type of cognitive therapy.

Also known as rational therapy or rational emotive therapy, it is an actively directed, philosophical and empirical therapy that focuses on the resolution of emotional and behavioral problems and disturbances; and whose objective is to achieve a happier and more satisfying life for the patient.

One of the fundamental premises of the TREC is that the emotional changes that people experience are not due to the circumstances that provoke them, but to the way in which the patient leads a happier and more satisfying life.The way in which people construct their views of these circumstances through the use of language, beliefs and meanings is a fundamental premise of TREC.

In TREC, the patient learns and begins to apply this premise through the A-B-C-D-E-F model of psychological disturbance and change. The A-B-C model holds that it is not the adversity (A) that causes the emotional consequences (C), but also the irrational thoughts that the person (B) creates in relation to the adversity. Adversity can be understood as an external situation as well as a thought, feeling or other internal event.

Thanks to this type of therapy, the person can identify and understand the illogical or erroneous interpretations and assumptions he/she makes in order to question them (B). and thus question them (D). Finally, the creation (E) of healthier ways of thinking leads the person to new feelings (F) and behaviors more appropriate to the circumstance (A) being addressed in therapy.

Through the use of various cognitive methods and activities based on dialogue and Socratic discussion, the patient can achieve a new way of processing information; that is, a much more favorable, constructive and emotional way of thinking.

Relationship to cognitive-behavioral therapy

If we take into account its name, we can deduce that cognitive therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy have certain common aspects. Traditionally, a distinction is made between the two types of therapy, taking into account the level of inference and the theoretical framework of departure, whether cognitive or behavioral.

The classical cognitive current supports the idea that within cognitive and thought processes we find an explanation for our behaviors. On the other hand, according to the behavioral approach, the motives or reasons for our behavior can only be supported by the environment and not by cognitive arguments. Therefore, both have different starting points.

However, the premises of the cognitive-behavioral approach establish that there is an intimate relationship between behavior and cognition. Based on the idea that cognition, behavior and affect or emotion are interrelated, and that by making a change in any of the three we will also be able to modify the other two aspects of the person.