Anxiety is a state of mind or emotion characterized by constant fear or concern about the perceived danger. This is normal and part of our daily lives. However, high levels of anxiety result in medical disorders. Such disorders tend to reshape how we process our information, changing our emotions and behavior towards unexpected scenarios. Anxiety comes about when we experience anxious thoughts, tension, and physical changes. While severe anxiety may gravely affect our day-to-day living, mild anxiety is considered harmless if maintained. Discerning between anxiety disorders that requires medical attention and normal anxiety feelings is the first step to recovery. Anxiety is approached using three forms of psychotherapy: behavioral therapy, humanistic therapy, and cognitive therapy. This paper is going to analyze the three types of psychotherapy.
Cognitive therapy as a psychotherapy treatment works by altering one’s irrational thoughts into a positive thinking pattern, changing the way they feel. This therapy applies to a wide range of issues, which include drug abuse, depression, and anxiety. Although cognitive therapy is regarded as a short-term treatment, adopting the routine of blocking negative energy and thoughts promotes the yenned behavior change that improves life’s quality. The concept of cognitive therapy is that it attempts to sway undesired subjective experiences that bring about anxiety. Contrary, this encourages an increase in distress, prompting to high psychological costs. Patients are, therefore, advised to face their fears and not evade them as they steer toward their valued goals.
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Humanistic therapy is about positively regarding yourself to increase your interests and acceptance of inner feelings to make a fit choice. The presence of a specialist with a background of humanistic value-base completes the definition of humanistic therapy since it requires two parties. Humanistic therapy is, therefore, helpful to patients who need to be heard so that they get a better view of themselves beyond their labeling. Encountering yourself as a person improves the sense of wellbeing and confidence though, humanistic therapy cannot be fruitful in the case where the patient is not willing to revisit the experiences that drove them in the state of anxiety. The clarity of this is that some patients favor cognitive behavioral addresses to a humanistic approach.
In contrast with cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy identifies and helps change unhealthy or self-destructive behaviors. This implies that a person's actions are learned, and destructive behaviors can be changed. Unlike humanistic therapy, the focus of behavioral therapy lies on how to change current problems. Patients with a vast range of disorders, such as anger issues, panic disorders, depression, and anxiety, significantly seek behavioral therapy. Cognitive therapy merges with behavioral therapy to concentrate on how someone's beliefs and thoughts influence their moods and actions, which makes cognitive behavioral therapy extremely popular. Changing a person’s behavioral pattern and thinking to healthier ones is its long-term goal.
Psychologists view of the three approaches today
According to psychologists, cognitive therapy focuses the attention on what one thinks instead of what they do. Cognitive therapists are convinced that dysfunctional thinking leads to dysfunctional behaviors or emotions. By changing negative thoughts, people can adjust what they do and how they feel. Psychologists believe that humanistic therapy aims to equip patients with the capacity to make logical choices and advance to their full potential. The behavioral approach focuses on developing both abnormal and healthy behaviors in which punishment and rewards aid in shaping people's behaviors. In this context, Jake's anxiety could have been brought about by an experience he might have had in the past. From a psychological point of view, humanistic therapy would be the best recommendation for Jake's condition.
