Exposure-Based Interventions

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the inspired work of Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck which emphasizes the need for attitudinal change to promote and maintain a behavior modification (Nichols, 2010 p. 167). Ellis believed, people contribute to their own psychological problems, as well as specific symptoms, by the rigid and extreme beliefs they hold about events and situations (Cory 2012, p. 291). CBT is based on an educational model with a scientifically supported assumption that most emotional and behavioral responses are learned. Therefore, the goal of therapy is to assist clients unlearn their unwanted behaviors and to learn new ways of behaving and thinking when he/she is faced with an

The roots of the Cognitive-Behavioral Theory lie in the broadening of behavior therapy and has undoubtedly produced more empirical research than any other model of psychotherapy (Datillio, 2000a). Cognitive-Behavior theory is a theory based on the idea that a person’s perspective is what guides the development and the preservation of their emotional and behavioral responses to situations within their lives as well as a plethora of studies that tested learning theories. The Cognitive-Behavior therapy also called CBT, relies on the belief that the person’s perspective also stunts or expedites the emotional and behavioral adaptation to situations as well. This “belief” means that what you or I think governs how we respond to what goes

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is ubiquitous and a proven approach to treatment for a host of diverse psychological difficulties (Wedding & Corsini, 2014). There are copious of acceptable created experiments that show to be highly useful in treating anxiety disorders through GAD Generalized Anxiety Disorder approach (Fawn & Spiegler, 2008). The purpose of this assignment is to expound on the client’s demography and demonstrating concern. The first procedure in this assignment will consist of the required informed consent and the client background information. Thus, a succinct discretion of the theoretical framework of CBT will describe the theoretic framework of CBT therapy expended in this assignment (Wedding & Corsini, 2014; Fawn & Spiegler, 2008). The next steps will adherent on how information regarding the clients past and present is problematic amalgamated to form an evaluation and to construct the client’s treatment. In the midst of assessment or the evaluation process and schema is implemented to create the sessions, examination, and provide feedback throughout each session.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a short-term, empirically valid amalgamation of facets from cognitive and behavior therapies. Cognitive-behaviorists believe that psychological problems stem from maladaptivity in both thought and behavior patterns, whether self-taught or learned from others. Therefore, changes have to take place in both thoughts and actions. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is structured as collaboration between client and therapist, focusing on the present. A prominent aspect of CBT is the client’s duty to be an active participant in the therapeutic process (Corey, 2013).

Multicultural Considerations: Cultural differences may see exposure therapy as worse than the disorder (Prochaska & Norcross, 2005, p.252). Therapist should show empathy with clients instead of using terrifying visualization scenes for the client to deal with. In Exposure therapy the therapist 's empathy is used as a more freighting scene. Trauma victims in search of sensitivity, support, and empowerment are provided more, higher decibel pain. When there is no empathic and caring relationship between clinician and client, psychotherapy, is not worth doing (Prochaska & Norcross, 2005, p. 252). In these therapies the therapist focuses on the behavior or feared stimulus, rather than deal with feels as much. Feelings of anxiety will be talked about while the client is going through the process of visualization, and at the end of the visualization to rate where their anxiety is. Strengths include a collaborative relationship between therapist and client in working toward mutually agreed-upon goals, continual assessment to determine if the techniques are suited to clients ' unique situation, assisting clients in learning practical skills, an educational focus, and stress on self-management strategies (Corey. 2005, p.485). With the client and therapist on the same page about how to work through the anxiety they can determine together would be more productive and helpful for the client. The therapist also needs to help the client with consequences

CBT is based on the premise that our thinking and beliefs about ourselves, others, our world, and the future has a crucial influence on how we feel. Also, when a person is feeling low in mood they have a sharper recall of memories which are negative in origin. The reciprocity between negative thoughts negative emotions and negative behaviors create a vicious cycle. CBT is problem orientated, active and directive and helps clients by posing specific questions to critically evaluate the source of their distress. Behavioral experiments are set as homework to reality test the validity of client’s irrational beliefs. The two areas usually associated with PTSD are intrusive thoughts/imagery and avoidance of situations which trigger the reaction to previous traumas. CBT for PTSD is designed to desensitize the person to the traumatic event. The cognitive-behavioral model assumes that a person is both the producer and product of her environment; therefore, treatment is aimed at changing a person’s behaviors within her environment. The client recognized her need for counseling after her masked feelings began to come out. Client realized that she needed to get better for her son. Client understood that she didn’t know how to get better on her own. Deeper examination of feelings revealed that client was haunted and traumatized by repressed memories and unresolved feelings from still living in her environment constantly getting

Avoidance- Behaviors exhibited by patients with PTSD to lessen the chance of exposing themselves to he original adverse stimuli. Patients utilize methods to reduce the severity of the physiological reaction if confronted by adverse stimuli. Some individuals may express the hallmark signs of agoraphobia in order to avoid thoughts and situations that may evoke disturbing

Given the high number of service members returning home with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, from Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF and Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF, it has been priority of the Military Health System and Veterans Affairs to identify and implement effective treatment (This is the military, 2014). Exposure therapy is the practice of flooding the client with images of their traumatic experience in an effort to desensitize them, and help control and reduce their anxiety (DiMaurio, 2014). This essay will discuss the efficacy of group exposure therapy when administered to patients with PTSD, specifically OIF and OEF veterans and service members. The outcome in successful studies will result in a decrease in PTSD symptoms. The applicability of the results and implementation of the treatment in alternate settings will also be discussed.

Steinglass and colleagues have found little evidence for the effectiveness of exposure therapy for treating eating disorders. Even with the previous research described above, results of those studies were not promising because of small sample sizes, and result indicating only small statistically significant differences between exposure treatment groups and control groups. In an effort to continue to strengthen the utility and safety of exposure therapy, Steinglass et al. (2007) examined the effectiveness of D-cycloserine in an exposure therapy intervention.

The brief treatment model that will be utilized will be Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT). As such, the client’s treatment plan will reflect four CBT intervention techniques which are: identifying maladaptive thoughts, challenging those maladaptive thoughts and beliefs, behavioral activation, and problem solving. Brewin describes CTB as,

The main goal of CBT is to help individuals and families cope with their problems by changing their maladaptive thinking and behavior patterns and improve their moods (Blackburn et al, 1981). Intervention is driven by working hypotheses (formulations) developed jointly by patient, his/her family and therapist from the assessment information. Change is brought about by a variety of possible interventions, including the practice of new behaviors, analysis of faulty thinking patterns, and learning more adaptive and rational self-talk skills. (Hawton, Salkovskis, Kirk, and Clark, 1989).

Exposure treatment has the greatest evidence base and strongest empiric support for effectiveness in the treatment of PTSD. Emotional processing therapy is described by Baker. Second, logistic regression was used to foretell continuance of symptoms. Broadly, the person’s beliefs and appraisals definitely influence the protuberance. investigations of fear-relevant imagery from the perspective of behaviour therapy for reducing fear. 2008; Marks and Dar 2000) and in some cases fear declines despite negative expectations being confirmed during exposure (Marks and Dar 2000). What encourage adaptation to emotional disturbances, and what factors impede it?

(1999) early studies that “rape victims demonstrated comparable symptom reduction following cognitive behavioral intervention” (p1780). There are six treatment options within the cognitive behavioral framework that are recommended specifically for treating trauma. The treatment options are exposure therapy, systematic desensitization, stress inoculation, assertiveness training, biofeedback and relaxation training. Exposure therapy is often used to assist clients in confronting trauma reminders, mental images and affect in an effort to assist in their desensitization of those associations. Although exposure therapy is often cited as being the most effective of cognitive behavioral treatments, it might not be the best options for survivors of sexual trauma. One of the main criticisms is that exposure therapy does not directly teach coping strategies (Bryant & Harvey, 2000). Exposure therapy also has the potential to be to abrupt, intense, and only focus on anxiety change and not modifying irrational thoughts. This would mean that the negative thoughts, such as self-blame, that sexual trauma survivors often experiences are not being modified. Although their anxiety may be managed, they are still struggling internally with their cognitive distortions. Another criticism of exposure therapy symptom reduction is often only achieved after several sessions (Bryant & Harvey, 2000). Systematic desensitization might be a better treatment approach for sexual

The therapist can then help the patient challenge and reconfigure their fear attachment to the event. CBT and Exposure use similar strategies to recall memories. Imaginal Exposure is the most common way for patients to evoke avoidance of trauma related emotions, thoughts, and memories (Wortmann, et al., 2014). As well as “In vivo exposures target behavioral avoidance of people, places, and situations that serve as reminders of the trauma.” (Wortmann, et al., 2014). Patients can then in a safe setting review and interpret these events without the connection of fear and anxiety. Eventually this habituates the connection of fear and anxiety to these events. With a new learned emotional connection to these past events patients see large drop in depression and anxiety.

CBT is an integrated approach using various combinations of cognitive and behavioral modification interventions and techniques (Myers, 2005). The aim is to change maladaptive patterns of thinking and behaving that impact clients in the present (Weiten et al., 2009). From a cognitive behavioral perspective Jane would be diagnosed as having faulty thinking and dysfunctional behavioral issues suffering from depression, and anxiety in the form of Agoraphobia (Weiten et al., 2009).