Cognitive therapy of delusional beliefs.
Abstract
The present article articulates a cognitive theoretical perspective of delusional beliefs. In contrast to the focus of psychoanalytic therapy (theoretically-derived phenomena beyond personal awareness), the cognitive therapist focuses primarily on the conscious cognitive-experiential level in the treatment of delusional beliefs, thereby emphasizing a 'common-sense' level of analysis or reasoning shared by the delusional patient. Unlike noncognitive behavioral approaches, which focus on topographical 'verbal behavior' as such, cognitive therapy directly targets specific delusional beliefs which theoretically give rise to the disordered verbal behavior. In this article, the adaptation of cognitive therapy to the treatment of delusions is described, with special attention to the following issues: special problems in collaboration; difficulties in obtaining conviction ratings; how to avoid and reduce confrontation through the Socratic method; the collaborative design of homework experiments; distancing strategies; interpersonal relationship issues; and the necessity to identify and explore the emotions associated with the various delusions, especially feelings about the possibility that the delusions may be incorrect.
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Homework in CBT is used to help patients practice skills learned in therapy and generalize these skills to the real world.
“Homework in CBT is used to help patients practice skills learned in therapy and generalize these skills to the real world.25”
From Quantifying the association between psychotherapy content and clinical outcomes using deep learning (2020) · cites this paper as [25]
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Quantifying the association between psychotherapy content and clinical outcomes using deep learning
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- Authors
- Alford, B. A., & Beck, A. T.
- Affiliations
- University of Scranton (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- ORCID
- Beck, Aaron T.
- Venue
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1994-03
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 369-380
- ISSN
- 0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2021088829
- Cited by
- 90
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 3.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behaviour Research and Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- delusions, cognitive therapy, Socratic method, confrontation, distancing strategies, interpersonal relationships, verbal behavior
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Delusions, Humans, Male, Personality Development, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
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