Cognitive Therapy Case Study

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Cognitive therapy makes the assumption that thoughts precede moods and that false self-beliefs lead to negative emotions (Magnavita 2012). Cognitive therapy aims to help the patient recognize and reassess his patterns of negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts that more closely reflect reality. Cognitive therapy recognizes 10 common patterns of faulty thinking, which are known as cognitive distortions.All-or-Nothing Thinking: Failing to recognize that there may be some middle ground. Characterized by absolute terms like always, never, and forever. Overgeneralization: Taking an isolated case and assuming that all others are the same. Mental Filter: Mentally singling out the bad events in one's life and overlooking the positive. Disqualifying the Positive: Treating positive events like they don't really count. Jumping to Conclusions: Assuming the worst…show more content…
He knows that his college grade point average will be used by schools during the admission process. He receives a D in a class on American History. He becomes demoralized thinking now that his lifelong dream to be a physician is no longer possible. He is magnifying that one situation rather than focusing on other positive aspect of his college career. Cognitive therapy would be beneficial in Robert's case. As a Therapist i would help him focus on other aspect that can get him into medical school such as curricular activities and letters of recommendation. Robert fears of not getting into medical can ge worst and due to the fact he is focusing on bad aspect of the situation. He will lose focus of other great things he has accomplised. I will help him by first using reverse modification and minimization, focusing positively on the other aspects of getting into medical while trying to help realize that just getting a D is minimal to other criterias. Herkov, M. (2012). About Cognitive Psychotherapy. Psych Central. Retrieved on July
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