A Temptation Too Great...

So I just found out that my blog is one of the few websites at work that is NOT blocked!! Yay! I am going to have to be careful and not have too much fun with this. Well, today, I just wanted to talk about how awesome I think cognitive therapy is! I am currently taking Counseling Theories at Argosy (my first class in my first semester in my Master's in Mental Health Counseling program at Argosy [wow, that's a lot of prepositions]) and we recently covered behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy (which I have studied in the past on my own). Honestly, it is truly amazing how becoming aware of one's thoughts (especially your automatic thoughts) and how they affect your reactions and behavior can change you. For example, Albert Ellis, the grandfather of cognitive therapy, believed in the ABC model, as seen below:

A. Something happens.
B. You have a belief about the situation.
C. You have an emotional reaction to the belief.

For example:

A. Your employer falsely accuses you of taking money from her purse and threatens to fire you.
B. You believe, “She has no right to accuse me. She's a horrible person!”
C. You feel angry.

If you had held a different belief, your emotional response would have been different: A. Your employer falsely accuses you of taking money from her purse and threatens to fire you.
B. You believe, “I must not lose my job. That would be unbearable.”
C. You feel anxious.

The ABC model shows that A does not cause C. It is B that causes C. In the first example, it is not your employer's false accusation and threat that make you angry; it is your belief that she has no right to accuse you, and that she is a witch. In the second example, it is not her accusation and threat that make you anxious; it is the belief that you must not lose your job, and that losing your job would be unbearable.

The core of this therapy is to increase self-awareness and self-monitoring. By recognizing irrational thoughts and changing them ("Maybe my boss isn't a horrible person; I don't know what she is thinking; maybe she really thinks I stole something. I need to address this situation head on."), our emotions and, consequently, our actions will be more appropriate and effective. Anyway, I have already begun implementing this therapy in my own life. It's so cool to see how quickly it works. I am definitely choosing cognitive therapy as my theoretical orientation. Definitely. :)