Sunday, 27 March 2016

Important Facts On Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

By Thomas Graham


Psychotherapy forms an important component of management for many physical and mental illness. In most cases it is offered alongside other forms of treatments (such as pharmacotherapy). Cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, is available in New Jersey and involves attending talk sessions with a trained therapist with the aim of identifying possible causes of an illness and working on their solutions. The conditions for which it has been found to be most effective include eating disorders, depression and anxiety disorders among others.

Sessions are typically held once every week or every two weeks with each lasting thirty minutes to one hour. The total number of sessions required varies depending on the type and severity of the illness as well as the response that is shown by the client. The therapy is based on dividing problems into three major groups: thoughts, emotions and actions. Harmful thoughts and emotions are identified and dropped.

To get the most out of this therapy, one should approach it as a partnership.it has been shown that persons that participate in the sessions actively are more likely to benefit than those who keep to themselves and leave the therapist to do all the talking. All attempts should be made to ensure that both the therapist and the client agree on the major issues relating to the illness and should come up with a treatment plan together.

One must remember that CBT takes time to works and the results are not immediate. There is a need to work hard and to stick to the treatment plan if even no motivation to do so exists. It is not uncommon for some clients to have their symptoms worsen particularly during the beginning of therapy but the situation tend to improve with time.

This treatment may be offered to individual patients or to groups. It is, as a matter of fact an important part of family and couples therapy. When used for groups, the only requirement is that the clients should share similar problems. The advantage of offering CBT to groups is that the group members learn coping skills from each other and are likely to respond faster than individual clients.

The client should be honest and as open as possible if they are to benefit from this treatment. They need to freely share their thoughts, experiences and emotions with their therapist to make it possible for solutions to be formulated. In case one feels that sharing some information is embarrassing or is likely to result into emotional pain they should let the therapist know. The therapist is obliged to maintain client confidentiality (except in very rare circumstances).

Symptoms may recur after some time in some patients even after successful treatment. When this happens, the right thing to do is to practice the skills that were gained in previous CBT sessions. If very severe, a repeat of the treatment may be necessary. Other forms of treatment may be helpful in increasing the effectiveness of CBT. This includes drugs such as depressants (in the case of depression) and other types of talk therapy.

The decision to seek CBT may be made by your primary doctor or by yourself. Regardless of the case, you should ensure that the therapist is qualified (has the right education and licensing). Find out the costs involved in advance and whether or not this is part of your health cover. This will help you avoid dropping out of treatment due to financial constraints.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment