Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is Developed and Used Over the past twenty or thirty years there has been a certain revolution in psychotherapy.Psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapy founded by Freud and his followers have been in a dominant position in the first half of the 20th century, and they have had an important impact on the construction of psychotherapy theory.Psychoanalytic treatment focuses on uncovering the roots of personal problems in childhood experiences, which is a lengthy and expensive treatment process.Therefore, only those who can afford the cost can receive this treatment.Attempts by health practitioners with a public conscience to modify this treatment, such as short-term or group therapy, to shorten the course of treatment and reduce costs, require such support that such efforts have little effect.Moreover, the practitioner of psychotherapy has little interest in proving that the interventions he administers to his patients do work, despite the results of some individuals' treatment showing that psychotherapy does help them.

In response to the dominance of psychodynamic therapy and the paucity of evidence of efficacy, a series of therapeutic techniques collectively referred to as "behavioral therapy" was proposed in the 1950s and 1960s.These therapeutic techniques have two basic characteristics in common.First, their therapeutic goal is to remove symptoms (such as anxiety) by addressing them without regard to underlying causes in the individual's history.Second, they are therapeutic techniques precisely formulated in testable terms, with some connection to theories about the mechanisms of learning developed by psychologists working in the laboratory.Indeed, those who practice behavior therapy strive to apply therapeutic techniques that have been proven to work, or at least can be tested.The areas in which these techniques have proved effective are mainly in the treatment of anxiety disorders, especially certain phobias (such as fear of animals or heights) and agoraphobia, both of which are difficult to deal with with traditional psychotherapy.

After the initial enthusiasm, dissatisfaction with behavioral therapy began to grow.There are several reasons for this, the most important being the fact that behavioral therapy ignores the inner workings of the mind, which are obviously important for understanding the distress the patient is experiencing.In this case, when behavioral therapy techniques proved to be ineffective in treating depression, the need for substantial revision was indicated.In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a treatment technique called "cognitive therapy" was invented for depression.The pioneer of this work was the American psychiatrist A. T．Professor Baker, who developed a theory of depression that emphasizes the importance of people's depressive thinking patterns.He also proposed a new specialized treatment technique.It is no exaggeration to say that Baker's work changed the nature of psychotherapy, not just for depression, but for other psychological disorders as well.

In recent years, the cognitive techniques advocated by Baker have been combined with various techniques previously proposed by behavioral therapists to generate a theoretical and practical system, which has gradually been called "cognitive behavioral therapy".There are two main reasons why this type of treatment has become so important in the field of psychotherapy.First, cognitive therapy for depression, as it was originally proposed by Baker and his successors in its development, is easily subject to rigorous scientific verification; Treatment of people with depression is very successful.Not only has this treatment been proven to be as effective as other very good treatments (except in some particularly severe cases, for which medical intervention is required), but some studies have shown that: for people with depression.Relapse is less likely with cognitive-behavioral therapy than with other treatments, such as antidepressant medication.Second, it is well recognized that certain ways of thinking are associated with the development of certain psychological problems and that treatments for these thinking types are very effective.Therefore, some cognitive-behavioral treatments have been proposed for anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, specific and social phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, hypochondriac (health anxiety).As well as other conditions such as binge eating, alcohol and drug dependence, and eating disorders such as binge eating disorder and anorexia.In fact, in addition to the above-mentioned types of psychological disorders, cognitive-behavioral techniques have a wider range of applications. For example, it has been effectively used to help those with low self-esteem and marital problems.

Almost 10% of the population suffers from depression at any given time.More than 10% of people suffer from more than one anxiety disorder.Many others suffer from certain psychological disorders or personal distress.Most importantly, many effective treatments have been developed.However, despite the well-developed treatment available, there is still a big problem, which is that the cost of treatment is very high, and many people cannot get effective treatment. This problem may be encountered by many self-helpers, and when As they seek to change their current state, their natural tendencies often exacerbate or even perpetuate their psychological problems.For example, a person with agoraphobia will choose to stay home for possible anxiety reactions, while an anorexic person will refuse to eat all foods that may make them fat.While these strategies may address temporary crises, they leave the underlying problems in the slightest and offer no real help in dealing with future difficulties.

So there are two closely related problems here: While effective treatments exist, people don't get them, and when they try to help themselves, they often make things worse.In recent years, the Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists has responded to this situation.The measures they take are to formulate specific principles and methods of cognitive behavioral therapy for specific problems and include them in self-help manuals.These manuals provide a systematic treatment plan in a targeted manner, and suggest that every patient with mental disorders use it to overcome their troubles.In this way, proven cognitive behavioral therapy techniques can be widely used.

However, the self-help manual was never intended to be a substitute for a therapist.Many individuals require individualized treatment by a qualified therapist.The fact is that despite the considerable success of cognitive behavioral therapy, some people are not suitable for this method and need to be treated with other methods.In any case, although the research on the usefulness of the cognitive behavioral therapy manual has been studied for a long time, the work to date shows that for most people, such a manual can help them overcome their problems without resorting to professionals help. Over the years, many people have been silently and unwillingly openly suffering from multiple types of psychological distress.Although they tried to find the right kind of help, that kind of help didn't come in a timely manner.Sometimes they feel embarrassed or guilty about exposing their problems publicly to others.For such individuals, the Cognitive Behavioral Self-Help Manual will provide a guide to their recovery and a better future.