Blog Post 10-Abbi Herrold

This week in class we discussed cognitive behavioral therapy and computer-based cognitive therapy (CCBT). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has seen a vast increase in recent years and is currently considered the most popular form of therapy used among clinicians. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a combination of cognitive (thought) therapy and behavioral (behaviors) therapy. This specific integration focuses on how thoughts, behaviors, and emotions all influence each other in treatments. For example: Being late to work (situation/trigger) may cause one to feel anxious (emotion) and think that they will not be able to complete the rest of the day's tasks successfully (thought). As a result of this they may avoid doing the rest of the day's activities (behavior). CBT could train one to recognize that although they are late to work and they feel anxious, they still have control over the situation and can work on other tasks in order to make the rest of the day successful (instead of giving up or avoiding these tasks).

Computerized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CCBT) is very similar to how regular CBT works however it may be more self-guided. CCBT often consists of psychoeducation, feedback and change monitoring, creating action plans, identifying goals, change techniques (such as redirecting thoughts), and putting things into practice via "homework" and worksheets. CCBT is often used as a low-intensity treatment for depression and anxiety disorders, with weekly support sessions from a trained clinician. CCBT is extremely successful and more affordable as it can be completed via tablet, computer, smartphone, etc.

Additionally, since CBT is a very skill focused form of therapy you can find worksheets and training sessions online for free from various sources with a quick google search! The website psychologytools.com offers over a dozen free worksheets (as pictured below) to help train an individual in the skills developed through CBT.

I feel as if cognitive behavioral therapy is an intervention I would definitely use with patients as a future intervention for depression and possibly anxiety as well. I feel as if CCBT is a great way to keep track of and practice the skills of CBT learned through in-person therapy. However, I believe using both traditional CBT and CCBT complement each other very well and could possibly create the most effective CBT-based treatment.