We work in the present time “here and now”. In most of the cases we don’t need to focusand search in the past or the origins to obtain good results. The main idea it’s focusing in the present and the future and try to look for positive changes to overcome the problem, and not only understand how the problem start.
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It’s an active therapy: Patient and therapist communicateand work actively during the treatment. The psychologist acts as a teacher who shows all he knows about the problem, the patient works after the sessions to practice everything he is learning. That’s why there’s homework to between the sessions.
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It’s a brief and time-limited therapy: It’s consideredamong the most rapid in terms of results. The therapy, last from 3 to 12 months, depending of each case, the frequency of the sessions and the cooperation of the patient in the treatment.
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It’s empirically verified. It’s efficacy in many disorders it’s scientifically verified. In anxiety disorders and depressionit’s as effective as pharmacologic treatments, but with its results are more consistent and it’s also more effective for prevent relapses.
The cognitive-behavioral therapy started in 1955 with the work of Albert Ellis, it was amplified and made deeper in 1962 with Aaron T. Beck.
The difference of this approach is to emphasize the role of thoughts as responsible of emotions, so if we want to change a negative emotion or to treat mood disorders we should focus in the way we think. The cognitive approach is completed with techniques of the behavioral psychology.
This approach it’s widely accepted as an evidence- and empiricism-based. That’s why cognitive-behavioral techniques are the chosen in the international congresses, and mainly used for treating disorders as: anxiety, panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, depression, sexual dysfunctions, stress, anger, marriage counseling and eating disorders.
The principal characteristics of cognitive-behavioral therapy that we follow in our office are: