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Decatastrophizing: A Case Study

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Decatastrophizing is a “what if” technique that prepares the client for the worst possible consequences, and the client is taught coping strategies. For example, “Suppose your mother died, how would you cope with that?” The goal of technique is to decrease avoidance behavior and to enhance coping skills. Reattribution testes automatic thoughts and it teaches clients to reinterpret their symptoms. For instance, clients are encouraged to explore several possible causes of an event and not to just mentally lock into one interpretation. In summary, reattribution is a process of reexamining and reinterpreting events. Redefining is a cognitive strategy to redefine a problem employing an activity that the client can perform concretely, and to show the client that personal control does exist. For example, if a woman says, “I cannot meet available men,” the problem can be redefined as “I need to introduce myself to …show more content…

Decentering is a method to help clients alleviate anxiety around embarrassment and shyness. Six common behavior techniques from cognitive therapy are the following: homework, hypothesis testing, exposure therapy, behavioral rehearsal, diversion, activity scheduling, and graded-task assignment. Homework is used to get clients to apply cognitive therapy techniques outside of therapy sessions. For example, clients can be given homework assignments to record daily thoughts and emotions and to hypothesize how thoughts influenced emotions. Hypothesis testing is both a cognitive and behavior technique. First clients are taught to test the validity of their thoughts by asking if their thoughts are valid. Second, clients are taught to test their beliefs against objective reality. Clearly, monitoring dysfunctional thoughts against objective reality is

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