Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is a generic concept that defines a psychological method that incorporates cognitive and behavioral therapy aspects. The psychologist tries to resolve the client's bad thoughts, irrational reflex thinking, and destructive schemas within CBT. Addressing this would make it easier for the therapy environment to be one of struggle and transition. CBT aims to center the client's energy on understanding and to question their unconscious thinking and alter the negative habits they have formed as a child. CBT has been very effective in helping clients deal with stress and anxiety. Ariel states that she feels rejected, worthless, and frustrated with herself. She also feels as if she is a loser. She also feels worthless such that in case she meets someone in the hallway and is not greeted, she takes it as a confirmation of her worthiness.
At the core of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy is the cognitive model, which suggests that “behaviours and emotions are the product of our discernments of circumstances." In the initial session, the counselor needs to know what Ariel thought and why she thinks these things. The counselor should address her specific perceptions about her current situations and also situations from her past. On the surface, it is not obvious what Ariel thought-processes were, so the sessions should address her thought-processes, including her schemas and automatic thoughts.
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Schemas are cognitive structures that organize all the information we process throughout our everyday lives. Our schemas allow us to process, encode, and retrieve information in our brains. These schemas often contain our core beliefs. These core beliefs are what is needed to be changed for Ariel to function properly. As children, we make every attempt to make some sense of our environment around us. We process what we see and hear, especially from our parents. We then organize all of this into various schemas in our minds.
Before Ariel could delve into her core beliefs and how they influence her life now, there is a need to address her automatic thoughts and intermediate believes. Her attentions are drawn to her automatic thoughts and explain what they are so she will easily address them herself and change them. Automatic thoughts are a normal part of our cognitive functioning. However, Ariel was suffering from very negative automatic thoughts.
Once her automatic thoughts are identified and discussed in-depth, it is easy to examine her intermediate and core beliefs. Her intermediate beliefs from her automatic thoughts included being worthless and struggling with social interactions. These two beliefs demonstrate both intermediate and core beliefs.
CBT "are to identify and change the processing of fault information and change the beliefs that support psychological dysfunction to those that are more adaptive." In the case of Ariel, it is vital to her healing to address her automatic thoughts. In doing this, Ariel needs to understand her negative automatic thoughts and the consequences these have on her daily functioning. It is also important to address her core beliefs and the schemas she created as a young child. Ariel's goal is to work with her to develop problem-solving skills and focus her attention on changing her fault beliefs and automatic thoughts about herself and the world around her.
The best intervention for Ariel is Graded Tasks. This technique is designed to help the client face what they deemed as an overwhelming task. Breaking it down into smaller steps allows the client to conquer it without dread and anxiety. This technique can be very beneficial for Ariel. The other intervention is she can utilize problem-solving in her daily life. The development of problem-solving has been very beneficial in CBT, especially for those suffering from depression and anxiety. Clients are trained to identify their problem, assume there was a solution, and react correctly. With time, she will be able to identify her automatic thoughts and work on challenging them readily.
