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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ( Cbt )

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Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a branch of psychotherapy that encompasses several approaches; falling under the heading of CBT. CBT is based on the premise that people 's emotional responses and behavior are strongly influenced by cognitions; the fundamental principle being: different cognitions give rise to different emotions and behaviors. CBT was developed out of a combination of both behavior and cognitive principles. CBT is the most empirically supported therapy model and is used to treat many mental disorders. The goal of CBT is to identify the maladaptive thinking and replace it with rational thinking with the intent to produce positive behavioral and emotional responses. CBT is appealing to many and widely used by clinicians but it is not without its critics.
History
In the 1950’s the beginning stages of a revolution began in the field of psychology. Developments in Behavior therapy (BT) by J. Wolpe and others began challenging the non-scientific approach of psychoanalysis (Craske, 2012; Westbrook, Kennerley & Kirk, 2011). Freudian psychoanalysis had dominated psychological treatment since the nineteenth century until the 1950’s when scientific psychology began to question the practice of psychoanalysis because its effectiveness could not be validated by empirical evidence (Craske, 2012; Rachman, 2014; Westbrook et al., 2011)
Scientific psychology sought treatments that could be observed and documented. BT ignored unobservable structures of the mind, and

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