Types Of Therapy Used For Treating Personality Disorders

An examination of current literature in the field of psychology has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy is an empirically supported and effective treatment type for a multitude of disorders, especially a variety of anxiety disorders.

This paper therefore focuses on several known disorders and its treatment by cognitive behavioral therapy. The next section will discuss shortly the content of cognitive behavioral therapy. Then the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for several disorders will be presented as is known in literature. However, it is out of the scope of this paper to present all known literature on this subject. Therefore, literature mentioning het main results about the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy will be presented. The differences and similarities will be discussed and at the end the conclusion will provide insight in the overall effectiveness.

Research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be as successful as medicine in treating many types of depression and other mental health disorders it can be completed in a relatively short time compared with other talking therapies and because it is highly structured, CBT can be provided in a number of different formats such as through computer programs, groups and self-help books. Some research suggests that CBT may be better than antidepressants at preventing the return of depression. It is thought to be one of the most effective treatments for anxiety and depression.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy is more frequently used to treat an extensive range of disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is among the most extensively tested psychotherapies for depression. Many studies have confirmed the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as a treatment for depression. This paper will provide background information about the intervention, address the target population, and describe program structure and key components. It will also provide examples of program implementation, challenges/barriers to implementing the practice, address how the practice supports recovery from a serious mental illness standpoint and provide a summary. Although there are several types of therapy available to treat depression and other mood disorders, CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) has been one of the most widely

If I were to be a therapist administering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) I would prefer to use it on a patient that is suffering from depression or anxiety. This is due to the fact that it is one of the most effective treatments for conditions where anxiety and depression is the main problem. Depression is most commonly defined as a mood disorder that may cause persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest. Which is primarily involved with the way a person thinks which leads to a particular way that person will then act. Therefore, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) would be most effective due to the fact that it’s goal is the change the way a person thinks. Also a person with depression would benefit most from developing a different perspective on life, one that is more pleasant and this therapy does just that.

The use of prescription drugs has become prevalent in our society for treating mental illness. Television commercial breaks are inundated with ads for prescription medication. If a person seeking help visits a psychiatrist’s office to get help for depression, anxiety, or ADHD, they are likely to get a quick swipe of a pen on a little white prescription pad and be sent on their way. While prescriptions can reduce or eliminate the symptoms of mental illness, they cannot cure the underlying source of the problem. This has been found to be the case for depression. “The effectiveness of antidepressants is being called into question more and more, while the research behind the value of behavioral interventions is growing. A study suggested that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was as effective in preventing relapse in chronic depression as antidepressants” (Walton). Using medication by itself may give people the relief they need in the short-run, but therapy can have lasting results that will improve the person’s quality of life in lasting ways.

Hollon, S. D., PhD. (1990). Cognitive therapy for depression. Psychiatric Annals, 20(5), 249-251,255-256,258. Retrieved from https://ez.salem.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/894194358?accountid=13657

Does cognitive-behavioral therapy work just as well as antidepressants when treating depression? How we perceive our depression is what helps to determine the type of treatment necessary. Antidepressants treat the common symptoms of depression rather than the condition while therapy helps change the thought process so the disease is cured in the end. Many studies are done to provide necessary information to what the answer to this question should be. The following articles provided studies that explained the effects of treatment with medication, with therapy, or a combination of both.

Though several personality disorders are highly complex and a challenge to treat, there are effective treatments available (“Treating Borderline” 1). The various treatments are broken down by method, the first of which being cognitive behavioral therapy, which attempts to alter the conscious thoughts and behavioral patterns of patients (Daniel); (“Treating Borderline” 2). Cognitive behavior therapy itself is broken down into two therapies, dialectical behavioral therapy and schema-focused therapy (“Treating Borderline” 2). Dialectical behavioral therapy, developed by Dr. Linehan, is centered on the basis that personality disorders are formed when hypersensitive patients are in situations which lack the emotional support they require, therefore leading to their “inability to regulate emotions” (“Treating Borderline” 2). Thus, the treatment serves to help the patient gain control over their emotion and behavior (“Treating Borderline” 2). The treatment itself consists of group and individual sessions and typically lasts approximately one year (“Treating Borderline” 2). During the group sessions, patients learn to become more aware of their behaviors and emotions through sessions pertaining to “problem solving, mindfulness meditation, and breath training“(“Treating Borderline” 2). In personal sessions, referred to as psychotherapy, the psychiatrist explains to the patient how the lessons from the group therapy sessions are applicable

Cognitive therapy was established in the 1960’s. It is one of the therapeutic approaches included in a group of cognitive behavioral therapies. It was established by Aaron Beck who actually changed the name from cognitive therapy to cognitive behavior therapy not too long ago. The therapy reveals distorted or harmful beliefs by applying techniques to analyze and remodel maladaptive thinking and learning or learning to centralize attention from obsessive thinking, while also integrating numerous techniques to bring about successful behavior change. This paper will provide a review of the theoretical orientation of cognitive therapy along with the personal viewpoint of counseling, change, and cognitive therapy from the author’s perspective. Additionally, an overview of depression is explained and how cognitive therapy can be utilized for treatment for depression.

While this article goes over an array of treatment options, cognitive therapy is the main focus of this summary. Cognitive therapy was developed in the 1950s. It is known for its effectiveness in treating those who suffer from a depressive disorder. Eventually it has become a promising treatment

Treatments using anti-depressants is well documented, but there are very few studies documenting only the use of psychotherapy. However, in one study done using the Cognitive–behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (CBASP) as a maintenance treatment, the overall findings show that psychotherapy in itself can be successful. “ There were 82 patients who were treated with CBASP long term. Patients were chosen at random to reduce their treatment to monthly or to an observational status. The patients, only treated monthly with CBASP, showed a smaller amount of reoccurring symptoms then the patients in the observational status. These findings support the use of only CBASP as a maintenance treatment for depression.” (Klein, 2004)

These sorts of therapies only require client and therapist sessions compared to other technical treatments. Other than that, cognitive behavioural therapies alter behaviours as intended and this indirectly decreases unfavoured acts such as self-mutilating. Moving on the cons, firstly, cognitive behavioural therapies fail to identify the complexities of disorders and eventually misdiagnose them. The cognitive behavioural therapy attempts to understand a patient by exploring their personal experiences or events which is inadequate in dealing with patients facing BPD. Secondly, the complexity of the human mind is vast and is difficult to be comprehended by another human being especially when unconscious experienced and thoughts are taken into consideration (Oldham et al., 2010). According to Kennard (2014), disorders are complex and it is impossible to be explored in patient-therapist sessions and is also prone to biasness. Thirdly, a concept of object relations and ego is not found in behavioural theories at its main focus is behaviour. Disorders which are clearly diagnosed are not the concern whereas personality disorders portray almost similar criteria’s. Cognitive behaviourists who lack the knowledge in weighing out distinguishable criteria are prone to making diagnostic errors which may impact patients in various aspects. According to Westen (1991), less experienced clinicians handling disorders such as BPD tend to misdiagnose and realise a stagnancy of the disorder without any improvement due to wrong treatment approaches which was the cause of

In research conducted by Hollon et al (2005), it was stated that while there was evidence for the enduring effects of cognitive therapy, there was a lack of extensive research comparing the effects to the use of antidepressant medication after terminating the treatment.