Cbt and Bt

Behaviour therapy and cognitive behavior therapy, both sound similar and many people who have had no experience with the two therapies would think that they are basically the same. Though both sound the same and have some similarities they are two different types of therapy. Behaviour therapy started to appear in the 1950’s and continued through to the early 1960’s and mainly looked at the observation of behavior, experiences that promote change and recent determinants that construct particular behaviour. This work was started by B.F Skinner. The work on cognitive behavior therapy started in 1955 by Albert Ellis. Cognitive behavioural therapy has concepts of cognitive and behavioural principles that combine in a short term approach. B.F Skinner and Albert Ellis have had major impacts into the development of the two types of therapies that are now the most used types of therapies by psychologists.

B.F Skinner and Albert Ellis

B.F Skinner born in 1904 grew up interested in basically everything and anything. Skinner’s life in contrast to that of Ellis was not as hard but Skinner did put a lot of work and effort in to being successful. He became one step closer to being successful when he graduated from Harvard after studying psychology. Skinner basically founded behavior therapy as due to his beliefs that “humans did not have free choice” (Corey, G. 2009) which saw him find ways to prove that our choices and our actions are conditioned. Skinner “was a prominent spokesperson for behaviourism” (Corey, G. 2009) as he was considered “the father of the behavioural approach to psychology.” (Corey, G. 2009) It would be unjustified if he wasn’t the main spokesperson for this approach to psychology. B.F Skinner died in 1990.

Albert Ellis was born in 1913 and grew up facing many horrific moments in his child such as his parents’ divorce, being afraid of public speaking and also being a very shy young child. These moments in his life, which were at the young...