Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? Why Not Psychodynamic Therapist?

When trying to find the best therapy for an aliment or disorder you are suffering from it is important to understand the difference between therapies and how well they are suited to treat your problem. The two therapies in questioned are cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy. This paper will discuss the pro and cons of cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a treatment that focuses on the relationship between thoughts and how they affect your feelings and behavior. CBT shows how negative thinking and self destructive behavior can perpetuate cognitive disorders such as depression.

Through a negative self schema that has been triggered through an external or internal event, this can distort an individual's perception of an experience which can lead to negative thought or a negative emotional response, for instance. Robert forgot to mention some details about an event, someone comes back and questions him on these details. Robert, who is suffering from a negative self schema or depression, misinterpret this interaction and come to the conclusion that they think he is an idiot for forgetting some details. His way of thinking is not based on any factual evidence and it contributes to Roberts depression and helps prolongs it. According to Blackburn & Davidson (1990) "we feel what we think". CBT uses the Socratic method according to NACBT (2007), which involves the therapist asking question and they encourage the client to ask questions of themselves like "" How do I really know that those people are laughing at me?"" ""Could they be laughing at something else?"" (NACBT, 2007. para 6.).

Cognitive behavioral treatment is useful in treating most disorders such as anger, anxiety, depression, drug or alcohol problems, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sexual/ relationship problems. CBT is based on an educational model, therefore what is...