Handbook of Cognitive-behavioral Therapies

Book excerpt: Cognition affects behaviour; cognitive activity can be altered; and behavioral change can be effected through cognitive change. It is on the basis of these simple but compelling principles that cognitive behavior therapy has developed into a major theoretical and therapeutic force (in clinical psychology and psychiatry). Dissatisfaction with the limitations of the strict stimulus?response model and the efficacy of traditional psychotherapy methods led to the exploration and empirical validation of the determining role cognitive processes play in human adaptation. A diversity of therapeutic models and techniques have been built on the common acceptance of the cognitive mediation model. This book presents a comprehensive examination of cognitive behavior therapy's innovative range of theoretical insights and clinical procedures. In one volume, the reader will find cognitive behavior therapy's theoretical and clinical history, its major therapeutic approaches, strategies to assess and verify cognitions, and continuing problem areas and research issues such as the overlapping and often conflicting labels given cognitive constructs and the lack of precision in matching specific treatment methodologies to specific behavioral problems. Following editor Keith Dobson's introductory taxonomy of therapies the book devotes separate chapters to representative examples of the three categories of treatment: coping skills therapy, problem?solving therapy, and cognitive restructuring methods. Theory, research, and practice associated with each therapy are examined. The combination of theoretical depth and clinical breadth makes the Handbook a valuable addition to the libraries of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists and students of human behavior. From their shared mediational foundation, time?limited and problem?specific focus, and commitment to educative interaction between therapist and patient, cognitive behavioral therapies have contributed innovative techniques to treating a range of behavioral problems, including depression, anxiety, overeating and other problems of self?control, and impulsive behavior in children. This book offers an extensive view of the sophisticated theories of cognitive, behavioral, and affect system interdependence and the treatment methods and modalities built on the powerful truth that maladaptive behavior lies in our own dysfunctional ways of thinking.