Why do you think cognitive and behavioral approaches to counseling are so popular? What do you think are some strengths and limitations of cognitive counseling approaches as you now understand them?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Popularity of CBT, and the strengths and limitations of cognitive theories:
• Popularity of CBT:
• These answers may vary significantly considering the prompt is asking for students’ opinions.
• However, some things to look for include the tangible nature of behavioral and cognitive techniques, which lend themselves very nicely to a formula and manual. Some students may also indicate that the manualized nature of the techniques lend themselves nicely to research, which increases the popularity of these approaches
• Strengths and limitations (REBT)
• Clear, easily learned, and effective
• Can easily be combined with other behavioral techniques to help clients more fully experience what they are learning
• Relatively short term, and clients may continue to use the approach on a self-help basis
• Has generated a great deal of literature and research for clients and counselors
• Has continued to evolve over the years as techniques have been refined
• Has been found effective in treating major mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety
• Cannot be used effectively with individuals who have mental problems or limitations, such as schizophrenia
• May be too closely associated with its founder
• Direct approach may lead to counselors being overly zealous rather than therapeutic
• Emphasis on changing thinking may not be the simplest way of helping clients change their emotions
• Strengths and limitations (Reality therapy)
• Versatile and can be applied to many populations
• Concrete
• Emphasizes short-term treatment
• Has national training centers and is taught internationally
• Promotes responsibility and freedom within individuals without blame or criticism or as an attempt to restructure the entire personality
• Challenged the medical model of client treatment
• Addresses conflict resolution
• Stresses the present because current behavior is most amenable to client control
• Emphasizes the here and now of behavior so much that it sometimes ignores other concepts
• Holds that all forms of mental illness are attempts to deal with external events (Glasser, 1984)
• Has few theoretical constructs, although it is now tied to choice theory
• Does not deal with the full complexity of human life
• Susceptible to becoming overly moralistic
• Dependent on establishing a good counselor-client relationship
• Depends on verbal interaction and two-way communication
• Strengths and limitations (Cognitive therapy)
• Has been adapted to a wide range of disorders
• Has spawned, in conjunction with CBT, dialectical behavior therapy
• Applicable in a number of cultural settings
• Well-researched, evidence-based therapy
• Spawned a number of useful and important clinical instruments
• Has a number of training centers across the US and Europe
• Structured and requires clients to be active
• Not appropriate for individuals seeking an insight-oriented approach
• Not the best approach for individuals who are intellectually limited
• Demanding