A Theoretical Basis For Clinical Treatment

Since the diagnosis was minor depression, treatment included short-term cognitive-behavioral approaches shown to assist with depression. Since a history of physical and emotional abuse may to lead to emotions such as depression and anger, these strong emotional components were considered within the cognitive-behavioral approach. The client also reported a lack of support from significant others, a failed marriage and difficulty dealing with his own child. For this reason Bowlby's attachment theory was included in therapy considerations.

Cognitive theory views the personality as being based on cognitive structures and shaped by central or core beliefs referred to as schemas. These schemas develop early in an individual's life as a result of environmental factors and they are unique to each individual. The schemata are defined as mental structures that organize past experiences. Schemata interact with each other and range from concrete to abstract. Information is acquired, coded, categorized, and evaluated by schemas. Cognitions are the processes that encompass the organization of sensory input and the initiation of behavior. Schemas are employed in the absence of data and therefore reinforce preconceived ideas (Freeman, Simon, Beutler, & Arkowitz, 1989).

Psychological problems are viewed as being due to faulty learning or incorrect inferences that are based on inadequate

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or disruptive activation state, however current views point out the functions that emotions serve. Emotions assist with decision making, they prepare for rapid motor responses, and they provide information that regards the organism and the environment. Emotions also serve social functions since thy provide information regarding another's behavioral intentions, whether a behavior is good or bad, and how to act socially. Affect is used to describe the experiential or behavioral aspects of emotion. Cognitive psychology recognizes the influence of cognitive and affective processes to include complex dependencies between affective and cognitive processes such as are found in decision making, learning, and memory (Gross, 1998). Greenberg's Emotion-focused Approach Greenberg (2002) integrated emotion-focused approaches in treatment. Greenberg points out that to be effective, treatment must integrate affect, cognition, and behavior. Emotion awareness, regulation, and transformation are important principles of emotional change. To incorporate these factors the practitioner needs to be guided by the source of the affect present in the client's distress, the type of affect dysregulation, and the type of change process to be used.
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