The search for different ways to help people manage and confront different psychological and behavioral problems is a constant in psychology. Throughout the relatively short history of this discipline, different people and schools of thought have managed to develop more or less effective techniques to treat these problems and disorders.
Some of the contributions that the greatest scientific evidence has demonstrated in the successful treatment of these problems come from the cognitive-behavioral paradigm, the predominant one today. In this article we will see ten cognitive-behavioral techniques of proven effectiveness.
Born from the fusion between behavioral techniques and procedures that seek scientific knowledge based on what is observable and the knowledge that behind behavior there are various psychological processes that explain why we act, think and feel How we do it, the cognitive-behavioral model or approach is based on work on cognitive aspects in order to produce a significant and profound modification of behavior.
We work on the legacy left by behaviorism, applying and adapting numerous techniques typical of this current. so that behavioral modification is not something mechanical and temporary but that causes a change in the way of perceiving reality and the existence of problems in patients. Aspects such as information processing, coping mechanisms, self-concept and self-esteem or other variables such as skills, beliefs and attitudes towards the world are taken into account.
Through the methods derived from this approach very diverse mental problems are treated from a point of view validated by science and focused on the current problem, working from the present symptoms to obtain an improvement in the patient’s quality of life and relief from their discomfort.
A dozen cognitive-behavioral techniques
Within the cognitive-behavioral paradigm, there are multiple treatments, therapies and techniques that can be used to produce improvement for the patient. Many of them are techniques arising from behaviorism to which cognitive elements have been added. Some of the techniques used are briefly explained below.
1. Exposure techniques
These types of techniques are used especially in cases of phobias and anxiety and impulse control disorders. They are based on confronting the patient with the feared or anxiety-generating stimulus until it is reduced, so that they can learn to manage their behavior towards it while at a cognitive level restructuring the thought processes that make them feel uncomfortable when faced with said stimulus. or situation.
In general, a hierarchy of feared stimuli is created between patient and therapist, so that the latter can gradually approach and expose themselves to them. The speed of approach can vary enormously depending on whether the patient feels more or less capable of facing what they fear.
Exhibition techniques can be applied in a very diverse way, both live and in imagination, and it is even possible to take advantage of technological possibilities to apply exposure through virtual reality.
2. Systematic desensitization
Although the procedure applied in systematic desensitization is similar to that of exposure, since it also establishes a hierarchy of anxiety-producing stimuli to which the patient is going to be exposed, it differs from previous techniques in the fact that it is previously has trained the patient in making responses incompatible with anxiety.
So, It seeks to reduce anxiety and avoidance of situations and stimuli by carrying out behaviors that prevent it from appearing, and over time causing counterconditioning that ends up generalizing.
Different variants of this technique are emotional enactments (applied especially with children and using a pleasant context in which stimuli are gradually introduced), emotional imagination (in which positive mental images are used to avoid anxiety as much as possible) or contact desensitization (in which the therapist would act as a model to teach how to act).
3. Upward arrow technique
This technique is basic in the treatment of most psychological disorders, forming part of almost all cognitive-behavioral techniques. It is based on modifying the patient’s thinking patterns through various methods, identifying one’s own thinking patterns and their influence on the patient’s life and generating more adaptive and functional cognitive alternatives together with the patient.
This is achieved through a series of questions that seek to explore the reason for each response given to topics that are important or significant for the person, and that have to do with their reason for consultation. Thus, the meaning of these ideas and thoughts is asked, until a point is reached in which the person faces doubts such as: “why have I assumed that I am like this?”, “Why “Why have I been behaving this way?”, “Why do I give so much importance to that experience?”
It is a technique that is used within the framework of cognitive restructuring, a widely used method to modify thought patterns, and which aims to allow patients to get rid of irrational and limiting beliefs, to adopt more adaptive ones.
Thus, beliefs, attitudes and points of view are modified, all with the aim of making the person interpret things differently, on the one hand, and consider different objectives and expectations, on the other.
These modifications have the power to make new habits appear and that those routines that are not very useful or cause discomfort disappear. In this way, it is encouraged that the person themselves become involved in contexts, initiatives, tasks with therapeutic potential, and to which they would not have been exposed if they had preserved the old belief system.
4. Modeling techniques
Modeling is a type of technique in which an individual performs a behavior or interacts in a situation with the goal that the patient observe and learn a specific way of acting so that you are able to imitate it. The aim is for the observer to modify her behavior and/or thinking and to provide her with tools to face certain situations.
There are different variants depending on whether the observer must replicate the behavior or not, the model dominates performing the desired behavior from the beginning or has similar resources to the patient so that an approximation to the objective is made, the number of people who act as a model or whether the modeling is done live or through other means such as imagination or technology.
5. Stress inoculation
This technique is based on preparing the subject to face possible stressful situations. It aims first of all to help the patient to understand how stress can affect you and how you can copeto later teach him different cognitive and behavioral techniques like the others reflected here and finally have him practice them in controlled situations that allow their generalization to everyday life.
The goal is for the person to get used to facing stressful situations rationally, without being blocked by their emotions.
Thus, stress inoculation is a kind of psychological training that modifies our reaction predispositions to stressful situations, allowing us to adopt a more appropriate pattern of behavior that does not make us fall into self-fulfilling prophecies (in this case, stress due to stress). stress forecast).
6. Self-instruction training
Created by Meichenbaum, self-instruction training is based on the role of self-instructions on behavior. These are the instructions with which we guide our own behavior by indicating what and how we are going to do somethingwhich are colored by expectations towards the results to be obtained or one’s own effectiveness.
Certain problems such as low self-esteem or perception of self-efficacy can cause the behavior to be impaired and cannot be carried out successfully and even avoided. This technique aims to help the individual to be able to generate correct, realistic internal self-verbalizations that allow him to carry out the actions he wants to carry out.
The process happens because first the therapist models the action to be carried out, indicating the steps out loud. Subsequently the patient will carry out this action from the instructions that the therapist will recite. Next, the patient will instruct himself out loud, and then repeat the process in a low voice and finally through subvocal, internalized speech.
This technique can be used on its own, although it is frequently incorporated as part of other therapies dedicated to the treatment of different disorders such as depression or anxiety.
7. Problem solving training
Problem-solving training is a type of cognitive-behavioral treatment through which it is intended to help subjects cope with certain situations that they are not able to solve on their own.
In this type of technique, aspects such as orientation towards the problem in question, formulation of the problem, generation of possible alternatives to solve it, making a decision regarding the most appropriate and the verification of its results. In short, it is about knowing how to approach complicated situations in the most constructive way possible, without getting carried away by fear and anxiety.
8. Operant techniques for behavior modification
Although of behaviorist origin, these types of techniques are also part of the cognitive-behavioral repertoire. Through this type of techniques, it is fundamentally about causing a modification in behavior through stimulation.
They allow both to motivate and contribute to learning new behaviors and to reduce or reduce them. modify them through the application of reinforcements or punishments. Within the operant techniques we can find shaping and chaining to enhance adaptive behaviors, differential reinforcement to reduce behaviors or change them for others, and satiation, time out or overcorrection as a way to modify or extinguish behaviors.
9. Self-control techniques
The skill of self-management is a fundamental element that allows us to be autonomous and adapt to the environment that surrounds us, maintaining our behavior and thoughts stable despite the circumstances and/or being able to modify them when necessary. However, many people have difficulties in adapting their behavior, expectations or way of thinking to reality in an adaptive way, which can cause different disorders.
Thus, self-control techniques are used to facilitate the learning of patterns of behavior in which impulsivity is appeased by considering the future consequences that certain actions may entail.
Carry out a training that strengthens self-control skillsas achieved with Rehm’s self-control therapy, can be used to control problems of various kinds such as those produced by depressive and anxious processes.
10. Relaxation and breathing techniques
Physical and psychological activation is an element of great importance when it comes to explaining problems such as anxiety and stress. The suffering caused by the presence of problems and difficulties can in part be reduced by relaxation techniques, learning from them to manage bodily sensations in a way that can also help manage the mind.
Within this group we find Jacobson’s progressive relaxation, Schultz’s autogenic training or breathing techniques.
Advantages of cognitive-behavioral techniques
Cognitive-behavioral techniques have shown a very high level of effectiveness in the treatment of various problems and psychological disorders. Through them it is possible to modify the patient’s behavior and contribute to the acquisition of more adaptive lifestyle and behavior habits, also working on and modifying the cognitive base that induces the original behaviors.
With this type of techniques, the mind and behavior are stimulated, producing a clear improvement in a large number of cases. Its level of effectiveness is such that today it is considered the therapy of choice for most mental disorders.
Another great advantage of this type of techniques is their adherence to the scientific method, with the cognitive behavioral therapies, techniques and treatments being contrasted at an experimental level.
Disadvantages and limitations
Despite the great effectiveness of these techniques in treating the symptoms of mental disorders and problems, cognitive-behavioral techniques They have a series of limitations which means that they are not always effective.
Firstly, it highlights the fact that although they take the past into account when collecting information to understand current problems, cognitive-behavioral techniques focus on the here and now, not placing too much emphasis on what is already at a therapeutic level. occurred that may have caused the maladaptive behavior.
Although these techniques They are very useful to treat the current symptom, Mostly behind a mental disorder is a deep suffering caused by blockages or events experienced for a long time and that can end up generating the disorder. If the origin of said suffering is not treated and the patient is not able to cope with it, the disorder could reappear.
It also highlights the fact that these techniques generally aim to eradicate what causes discomfort, but in the process it is not uncommon for rigid behaviors to be generated that in turn can cause other adaptation problems.
Furthermore, some studies have shown that many patients feel that this type of therapy does not take their condition into account, feeling misunderstood and there are cases of poor adherence to treatment and abandonment of it. For these reasons, other therapies have emerged, such as third generation therapies and others from other paradigms.
