Three Basic Musts Need Original Post And One Res

Initial Post: You have studied many theories and you may now be thinking of integrating some of these approaches. If you had to select one theory that you most value and tend to identify with, which theory would it be and why? What is one other theory that you see yourself blending with your primary theory? Be sure to connect your response to something you learned in any chapter read for this course. To clearly illustrate that connection, your response must contain the page number from the textbook in order to earn full credit.

The theory I most value and identify with would be the CBT approach. I find that the focus on cognitions and how these cognitions tie in with beliefs, emotions, and behaviors is useful for a broad array of concerns and allows for a flexibility in terms of which clients the therapist can work with. I find that a strong collaborative relationship between the therapist and client, a focus on how one’s stress or pathology is tied with their thoughts, along with the idea that changing one’s cognitions will have impacts on mood and behavior are useful components for a successful therapeutic outcome (10-1). Additionally, the focus on specific problems and goal-setting, a sense of direction provided by the therapist, and the here-and-now stance can help to provide the client with a foundation for making concrete changes in their life (10-1). I like how these qualities and the techniques of the approach can fit with other perspectives as well. For instance, by incorporating concepts from a psychoanalytic perspective I can still maintain this primary approach and address the client from multiple angles (and allow the client to approach their concerns from multiple angles as well). We can utilize such methods as homework assignments, role-playing, systematic desensitization, and thought records from the CBT approach while also incorporating interpretive methods from the psychoanalytic perspective. Regarding the latter, I would incorporate concepts such as transference and countertransference to understand how the client repeats interpersonal patterns in the here-and-now which also occur or have occurred in the past outside of session.

Additionally, it would be useful to have the conceptual framework of defense mechanisms to understand and gain insight into when and why they may react the way they do in specific circumstances with particular people. I think that it would be helpful to incorporate these concepts into the CBT homework assignments, such as daily thought records. While the client is looking for their faulty cognitions, they can also attempt to understand when they might be projecting or enacting a reaction-formation mechanism. I also would like to incorporate a cultural and social awareness component to whatever the client is facing, not merely viewing their circumstance as an intrapsychic phenomenon divorced from the outside world and societal conditions. I think this combination of cultural concern, societal awareness, and psychoanalytic framework would integrate well with the CBT approach, making sure that there are no blind-spots both during the assessment and treatment processes. This will also help the client post-treatment to provide self-care and self-analysis to take what they learned from therapy and bring it into their life independently, so they can thrive in the present. If the client can learn to overcome the three basic “musts”: “I must do well and be loved and approved by others[,] other people must treat me fairly, kindly, and well[, and ] the world and my living conditions must be comfortable, gratifying, and just, providing me with all that I want in life” (10-3a), and avoid other self-defeating beliefs, I think that optimal emotional and behavioral functional will follow as well. I think that the psychoeducational component of CBT would also be especially useful in helpful the client gain clarity of their condition so that they are able to be proactive in positive ways which address the symptoms and underlying causes or sources of their difficulties.