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44- Reading- Cognitive therapy & the emotional disorders
Author : Aaron T. Beck
Note : 8/10
Year: 1976 (printed 1979)
Meridian
337 pages
I continue reading this highly detailed book and start this second entry, in
order not to overload the first part. At the end of reading, I shall summarize and keep these details for posterity.
I chose bold to talk about the book itself, which is described and normal fonts for my own comments in drawing conclusions, or adding information that I have found elsewhere, or, for my testimony.
I just finished Chapter 6 dedicated to anxiety neurosis, which explains the process of typical thoughts anxious patients have, as they/we see danger everywhere, catastrophizing any situation, in a process that blocks logic reflection.
Beck uses the term anxiety neurosis also for patients suffering from post-traumatic stress; I know that the terms evolved and I presume that in the mid-1970s, PTSD did not yet exist.
Beck has the great merit of questioning the other schools of psychology before him, who believed that anxiety was necessary. He shows how, on the contrary, it can cause more trouble in case of real danger, such as a person who freezes and cannot act in time to counter the danger.
He further demonstrates with the case of an athlete who can better act without that anxiety, which, again, isn't necessary for him or her in order to prepare for action.
In my specific case of social phobia, the anxiety is related to potential dangers in social situations: my automatic thoughts assume that I might sound ridiculous, or that i'd stammer and stumble in my speech or fail to express my views, or experience an overflow of strong emotions.
As I explained previously, the problem of this phobia is that the mere idea of a future threat invades my thoughts and emotional reactions as soon as planing for a social event starts, especially since I sometimes have to prepare well in advance.
Eg, the idea of going to a geek convention for which I saw an add 3 weeks ago and that allowed me a whole 6 weeks of preparation caused many difficulties.
I decided to try it; I won't be alone but accompanied by my wife, and a friend and her family.
I found a possible way to manage this: I plan to bring my camera and become an observer of others, to overcome my fear of being observed.
It will be a crowded event and its approach makes both exhilarates me
at the idea of participating but also generates anxiety ...
In contrast, programming of game nights and days of movies with friends who are coming tomorrow for the first group, and throughout the month, do not create
this stress: I know them well for the most part, and am very comfortable with them.
Certainly one is a new friend to me; I actually met her once at the first video games evening we had recently, but she was very friendly and we clicked on common passions, which makes me think and feel that her return will help deepen our friendship and learn to appreciate her just like i do for these already known friends.
The 30 pages long Chapter 7 ''afraid but not afraid : phobias and obsessions'', explores the various symptoms of phobias and differentiates phobias from anxiety neurosis (chapter 6), and also the fact that not every fear is a phobia.
Beck explains how at least 107 terms were coined for specific phobias, a list which evolves and can expands with various research groups formed b psychotherapists and their patients can coin more terms over time. (remember, this book dates from the 70's).
Beck further explains how a patient can have a dual belief system regarding the potential danger to arise from his or her phobic object/ situation : far away from it, the patient can ascertain the danger to zero, and as the situation becomes closer, he or she increases the potentiel danger all the way to maximum.
Such as also my own difficulty with my social phobias : as I plan for a future social event, there is an initial trigger. The anxiety then subsides, only to grow bigger and bigger as the date approaches.
Beck points out that it is possible - and quite often the case - that patients suffer from multiple phobias at the same time, but in most cases, these phobias share a common denominator.
Once more, he sets new standards of therapeutical approach, distancing from previous psychotherapy schools (including Freud).
After a shortlist of phobias which Beck details, he moves on to explain the development of phobias of adult patients, which can be divided into 2 basic groups :
Early intense fears experienced as a child, wasn't outgrown and once an adult, the person suffers from a phobia.
This can also relate to familial surroundings, as parents who also have these phobias and in instances where the child copies the parental avoidance, doesn't outgrow and in mature age, still suffer from the same kind of phobias - and which become fixated in the person.
The second group consists of traumatic phobias, with a similar development to traumatic neuroses : an unpleasant, or unusual traumatic event sensitizes a person to a specific situation or type, or a set of such situations.
Systematic avoidance also exacerbates phobias, as a person doesn't learn how to face and become more at ease with the situation... I shall talk about my own case in more detail elsewhere.
Almost as long, the 8th chapter '' mind over body: psychosomatic disorders and hysteria '' focuses on the mind-body relationship, as well as the difficulties therapists and philosophers have had to define this relationship for a long time - without reaching consensus.
This lack of union in understanding is reflected in the types of therapies to correct this ills, including those that have no apparent cause other than their creation by thought, faulty cognitions of patients that produce the same symptoms as the disease imagined by these patients.
Beck demonstrates how a therapist can correct thought at the source of emotional disorders, in order to cure the patient, by proving him or her the unfounded cognitions, leading the 9th chapter on the principles of cognitive therapy.
There, this author explains the importance of therapeutic collaboration in a trusting relationship between the therapist and the patient, in order to help alleviating symptoms and have a proper exchange and avoid mutual misunderstandings and misgivings in expectations.
This chapter also delves on the targets of this therapy, and various ways to bring the patients to learn to learn, a therapeutical process meant to guide the patient to learn lasting tools and thus enable him or her to solve future issues alone.
The techniques of cognitive therapy are described in chapter 10 for most cases, whilst those for depression have specific steps and detailed in chapter 11.
Chapter 12, status of cognitive therapy explores the validity of this therapy and compares it with behavior therapy and psychoanalysis, the older therapeutical approaches.
In conclusion, Beck explains various research groups formed to test this therapy and explains his own views and evolution as a psychoanalyst who became a cognitive therapist.
I shall give my final thoughts about this book in my next entry, dedicated to summarize my impressions.
I continue reading this highly detailed book and start this second entry, in
order not to overload the first part. At the end of reading, I shall summarize and keep these details for posterity.
I chose bold to talk about the book itself, which is described and normal fonts for my own comments in drawing conclusions, or adding information that I have found elsewhere, or, for my testimony.
I just finished Chapter 6 dedicated to anxiety neurosis, which explains the process of typical thoughts anxious patients have, as they/we see danger everywhere, catastrophizing any situation, in a process that blocks logic reflection.
Beck uses the term anxiety neurosis also for patients suffering from post-traumatic stress; I know that the terms evolved and I presume that in the mid-1970s, PTSD did not yet exist.
Beck has the great merit of questioning the other schools of psychology before him, who believed that anxiety was necessary. He shows how, on the contrary, it can cause more trouble in case of real danger, such as a person who freezes and cannot act in time to counter the danger.
He further demonstrates with the case of an athlete who can better act without that anxiety, which, again, isn't necessary for him or her in order to prepare for action.
In my specific case of social phobia, the anxiety is related to potential dangers in social situations: my automatic thoughts assume that I might sound ridiculous, or that i'd stammer and stumble in my speech or fail to express my views, or experience an overflow of strong emotions.
As I explained previously, the problem of this phobia is that the mere idea of a future threat invades my thoughts and emotional reactions as soon as planing for a social event starts, especially since I sometimes have to prepare well in advance.
Eg, the idea of going to a geek convention for which I saw an add 3 weeks ago and that allowed me a whole 6 weeks of preparation caused many difficulties.
I decided to try it; I won't be alone but accompanied by my wife, and a friend and her family.
I found a possible way to manage this: I plan to bring my camera and become an observer of others, to overcome my fear of being observed.
It will be a crowded event and its approach makes both exhilarates me
at the idea of participating but also generates anxiety ...
In contrast, programming of game nights and days of movies with friends who are coming tomorrow for the first group, and throughout the month, do not create
this stress: I know them well for the most part, and am very comfortable with them.
Certainly one is a new friend to me; I actually met her once at the first video games evening we had recently, but she was very friendly and we clicked on common passions, which makes me think and feel that her return will help deepen our friendship and learn to appreciate her just like i do for these already known friends.
The 30 pages long Chapter 7 ''afraid but not afraid : phobias and obsessions'', explores the various symptoms of phobias and differentiates phobias from anxiety neurosis (chapter 6), and also the fact that not every fear is a phobia.
Beck explains how at least 107 terms were coined for specific phobias, a list which evolves and can expands with various research groups formed b psychotherapists and their patients can coin more terms over time. (remember, this book dates from the 70's).
Beck further explains how a patient can have a dual belief system regarding the potential danger to arise from his or her phobic object/ situation : far away from it, the patient can ascertain the danger to zero, and as the situation becomes closer, he or she increases the potentiel danger all the way to maximum.
Such as also my own difficulty with my social phobias : as I plan for a future social event, there is an initial trigger. The anxiety then subsides, only to grow bigger and bigger as the date approaches.
Beck points out that it is possible - and quite often the case - that patients suffer from multiple phobias at the same time, but in most cases, these phobias share a common denominator.
Once more, he sets new standards of therapeutical approach, distancing from previous psychotherapy schools (including Freud).
After a shortlist of phobias which Beck details, he moves on to explain the development of phobias of adult patients, which can be divided into 2 basic groups :
Early intense fears experienced as a child, wasn't outgrown and once an adult, the person suffers from a phobia.
This can also relate to familial surroundings, as parents who also have these phobias and in instances where the child copies the parental avoidance, doesn't outgrow and in mature age, still suffer from the same kind of phobias - and which become fixated in the person.
The second group consists of traumatic phobias, with a similar development to traumatic neuroses : an unpleasant, or unusual traumatic event sensitizes a person to a specific situation or type, or a set of such situations.
Systematic avoidance also exacerbates phobias, as a person doesn't learn how to face and become more at ease with the situation... I shall talk about my own case in more detail elsewhere.
Almost as long, the 8th chapter '' mind over body: psychosomatic disorders and hysteria '' focuses on the mind-body relationship, as well as the difficulties therapists and philosophers have had to define this relationship for a long time - without reaching consensus.
This lack of union in understanding is reflected in the types of therapies to correct this ills, including those that have no apparent cause other than their creation by thought, faulty cognitions of patients that produce the same symptoms as the disease imagined by these patients.
Beck demonstrates how a therapist can correct thought at the source of emotional disorders, in order to cure the patient, by proving him or her the unfounded cognitions, leading the 9th chapter on the principles of cognitive therapy.
There, this author explains the importance of therapeutic collaboration in a trusting relationship between the therapist and the patient, in order to help alleviating symptoms and have a proper exchange and avoid mutual misunderstandings and misgivings in expectations.
This chapter also delves on the targets of this therapy, and various ways to bring the patients to learn to learn, a therapeutical process meant to guide the patient to learn lasting tools and thus enable him or her to solve future issues alone.
The techniques of cognitive therapy are described in chapter 10 for most cases, whilst those for depression have specific steps and detailed in chapter 11.
Chapter 12, status of cognitive therapy explores the validity of this therapy and compares it with behavior therapy and psychoanalysis, the older therapeutical approaches.
In conclusion, Beck explains various research groups formed to test this therapy and explains his own views and evolution as a psychoanalyst who became a cognitive therapist.
I shall give my final thoughts about this book in my next entry, dedicated to summarize my impressions.
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