Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy is an important therapeutic strategy for a range of serious psychological conditions as well as a number of potentially self-harmful behaviors that are not considered to be psychological conditions but that have psychopathological elements to them that an individual wishes to stop (such as smoking, with its addictive element). The basic goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to reduce or even eliminate "the suffering of people with mental disorders by changing their behavior patterns" (http://www.realage.com).

Although it is a relatively new form of therapy, cognitive behavior therapy is derived from well-established psychological principals, including primarily classical conditioning. Classical conditioning, which is one of the most widely used models of learning (and therefore potential individual change) within psychology and psychotherapy, allows individuals to learn new forms of behavior. Classical learning (in which individuals learn to do somethin

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types of therapies that is generally categorized as a "growth model" and stresses the importance of human potential. Adlerian therapy is based on an elastic and essentially hopeful view of human nature and the potential that each individual has to change himself or herself for the better. Unlike more traditional forms of therapy, such as Freudian therapy, which emphasize the importance of past events over an individual's present, Adlerian therapy argues (to use a somewhat trite phrase) that today is indeed the first day of the rest of your life. Adlerian therapists work with their clients to help them come to believe that they are in control of their fate rather than being a victim to past events and past attitudes. This form of therapy does not deny that the past is important - in no small measure because an individual will have entered therapy with a self-concept and a style of coping that she or he has been developing since a very young age. This basic attitude towards life cannot be radically altered but can be shifted slightly so that the individual can become both more effective in meeting the goals that the therapist and the individual develop together as well as happier with his or her performance. Adlerian therapists a
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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