that your partner was nasty and selfish because they arrived late for dinner then you might feel angry and shout.
• If you think that your partner's late arrival for dinner is no big deal then you can feel calm about it and ask what happened.
This shows that it is not the situation or what happens to us that provokes our feelings and behaviour. It is the way we think about the situation. The way we think about something can then influence how we behave.
CBT considers behaviour as significant in maintaining or in changing psychological states. If, for example, you avoid some event, such as giving a presentation to your team, then you will deny yourself the opportunity to disconfirm your negative thoughts about yourself or capabilities. Furthermore, avoidance only sabotages what you want to achieve. Changing what you do is often a powerful way of helping you change thoughts and emotions and ultimately what you can achieve.
Traditional therapies take the view that looking at problems in the here and now is superficial. They consider successful treatment must uncover the childhood developmental issues, hidden motivations and unconscious conflicts that are supposed to lie at the root of the problem. These approaches argue that treating the current problem rather than the supposed hidden ‘root’ causes would result in symptom substitution, that is the problem would re-surface in another form later on. There is little evidence to support this idea. Behaviour therapy also showed that such an outcome, although possible, was very rare.
CBT offers theories about how current problems are being maintained and kept alive and how they can be changed.
CBT offers scientific theories. Scientific theories are designed in a way so they can be tested. CBT has been evaluated rigorously using evidence rather than just clinical anecdote. This is important for a couple of reasons:
• The treatment can be founded on sound and well-established theories.
• Ethically, CBT therapists can have confidence in the therapy they are advocating.
Exercise
List five things that people manage to change about themselves despite doing it badly at first (for example, learning to drive).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
List five positive things that you have learned in your life despite experiencing difficulties (for example, moving on from a failed relationship).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Think of an inspirational person who has overcome enormous obstacles by having a powerful and constructive attitude and positive behaviour.
Truth
In CBT we examine our thoughts and behaviours to check if they are realistic. This means we judge and evaluate an event based on facts rather than perception, which can be flawed. Why do you think that, when an accident occurs, the police take statements from a number of people instead of asking just one person what happened?
Truth is about being consistent with reality whilst striving for the goals that are important to you. It's about acknowledging and accepting the existence of the possibilities you dislike while persisting in your efforts to reach your goals.
Exercise
How many ‘F's can you count in the following statement?
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULTS OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS.
Did you see 2 or 3 ‘F's?
There are 6.
I will leave you to find the rest but simply draw your attention to the word ‘of.’
The above is a popular example used to highlight the fact that we don't necessarily see the whole truth. We interpret what we see and experience. What you have learnt from this simple but effective exercise is that your version of the truth can be faulty. It is important to question the truth that you hold about yourself and your ability just in case you are seeing only a few of the good things and missing many others. Sometimes we only see a few ‘F's, when in reality there are more. If the ‘F's represent your positive abilities and qualities, how many of the good qualities are you seeing?
This is just one of the reasons why in CBT we question the validity or reality of our thoughts.
Common sense
In CBT we suggest taking a logical and common-sense approach to thinking.
This does not mean that you become totally unfeeling and emotionless.
Logic or common sense is about the purity of our reasoning skills, whether a conclusion correctly follows a premise or assumption.
For example, which one of these two statements makes sense?
A. Some men shave their heads … therefore anyone with a shaved head is a man.
B. Some men shave their heads … but it doesn't mean everyone with a shaved head is a man.
Clearly statement B makes sense. In statement A, the fact that some men shave their heads does not connect logically to the assumption that anyone with a shaved head is a man. Some women, children and teenagers also have shaved heads.
Logical thinking is useful because we all have the ability to think and use common sense. In CBT, using your common sense well can lead you to form better conclusions about yourself.
Some people think like this about certain goals:
Others think like this:
Which of the above two statements makes sense?
Helpfulness
Finally, in CBT we look at how helpful your thoughts are to you and in the pursuit of your goals. Your thoughts are responsible for how you feel about yourself and your abilities, so it is more helpful for you to have constructive and goal-oriented thoughts than not.
Exercise
Reflect on some thoughts you often have about yourself and your abilities. See if they are helpful to you. For example, you might think ‘I'm not very good at talking in front of people.’
How can you make your thoughts more realistic, logical and helpful? For example, ‘I could improve by facing my fears slowly and gradually.’
In CBT we draw a distinction between different types of thoughts. Not all of our thoughts are involved with our feelings and behaviours. The thoughts that are involved in our feelings tend to have some sort of an assumption or judgement
