Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Is it possible to add creative twists to proven therapeutic techniques in order to encourage reluctant patients to try safe and effective treatments that we believe can benefit them? After reading the case, tell us what you think.

The authors take an in-depth look at the evaluation, diagnosis, and fundamental treatment recommendations, protocols, and guides to therapy for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

Patients with severe depression are more likely to have symptom remission with a combination of cognitive therapy and antidepressant medication than those with less severe or more chronic illness.

A significant number of patients have some degree of personality pathology that can interfere with treatment, whether they receive medication or some form of psychotherapy. But how can clinicians develop a strong therapeutic alliance with patients who have personality disorders? An expert explains.

An update on the diagnosis, causation, and treatment of chronic depressive problems. The focus is on the recently introduced diagnostic category of persistent depressive disorder.

What do we know about the relative efficacy of current medication and therapy for OCD? This question answered and highlights of recent studies, future directions, and causes are summarized in this video.

The first generation of cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis, when added to standard care, has demonstrated efficacy in treating patients with delusions and hallucinations. Details in this article.

An expert summarizes the effectiveness of the treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder, including pharmacotherapy and a very specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy.

Keys to the management of panic disorder include appropriate use of psychotropic medication and psychotherapy predicated on an understanding of the disorder's biopsychosocial underpinnings. Here, Stephen V. Sobel, MD, focuses on treatment options.

In this video, Dr H. Blair Simpson gives a brief overview of the hallmarks, themes, and common comorbidities found in OCD.

CBT has become rooted as proven dogma in the treatment of depression despite large problems remaining in methodology of CBT clinical trials and the logic behind how CBT works. This article will describe the major methodologic problems in the clinical trials of CBT.

A multimodal treatment program that centered on a cognitive-behavioral approach using exposure and response prevention was effective in treating OCD comorbid with eating disorders.

In line with adolescents' interest in interactive video games, a computerized cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention that is an interactive fantasy game for depressed adolescents has been developed.

Despite the high prevalence of depression among youths, there are empirically supported treatments that have been shown to reduce depressogenic symptoms, including the 3 therapies outlined in this article.

Boys with ADHD can present with different cognitive and behavioral patterns than girls with ADHD. Despite these factors, girls with ADHD remain at significant psychosocial risk into adulthood.

See if you can tell if the following quote comes from religious wisdom or a CBT therapist: “To defeat depression, you must introduce a fresh perspective to your thinking. You must begin to replace troubling, destructive thoughts with positive, constructive ones.” To this, we say, “Amen.”

There is evidence that the combination of medication and psychotherapy improves outcomes for many psychiatric illnesses. Among the several forms of psychotherapy that might be considered, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most extensively studied.

Our study suggests that most delusional patients, even those with high positive symptom scores, may have at least 1 RFD that precedes a clinical intervention specifically directed toward encouraging doubt. These preexisting “islands of doubt” may offer a useful foothold to begin the CBT process.

Neuroscientists are exploring ways to erase bad memories in patients who have experienced traumatic events. This possibility raises ethical concerns: Is it ethical to erase a memory or flashback and the feelings associated with that moment to alleviate suffering, or should clinicians focus on therapies such as CBT and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to help patients cope with a trauma?

In his Putting Research Into Practice column, “Practical Implications of a Study on Treating Chronic Insomnia," (Psychiatric Times, Dec 2009, Vol XXVI, No 12, p 8) Dr Rajnish Mago described a study of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and hypnotics in 160 subjects with chronic insomnia, 15% with a comorbid psychiatric diagnosis.

For both depression and anxiety disorders in youths, there is increasing evidence of clinical benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).

Unlike other handbooks, such as the Clinical Handbook of Couple Therapy (Guilford, 2002) and the Handbook of Couples Therapy (Wiley, 2005), which give considerable attention to specific theoretical approaches for treating couples, this handbook addresses clinical issues only. There are no chapters on cognitive-behavioral couple therapy, emotion-focused couple therapy, or the like. Instead, this handbook’s 18 chapters cover biological and physiological issues, traumatic issues, divorce and remarital issues, sociological issues, primary prevention issues, and training issues.

Cognition” has more than one meaning. Cognitive-behavioral therapy refers to therapies that work on changing automatic thoughts and resulting schemas.

Anew study shows that the rate of remission in adolescents treated for depression for 36 weeks was more than double that of adolescents treated for 12 weeks, whether treatment was with an antidepressant, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or a com­bination of both.1

Psychotropic treatment can often prevent the relapse of psychotic and mood symptoms. However, many patients take medication intermittently or not at all; or the symptoms may be only partially responsive to medication. Therefore, there is a need for interventions that can supplement the effect of medication and improve treatment outcomes.

A combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and antidepressants to treat anxiety disorders in youngsters has yielded positive results in a government-funded study that was published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.1

The substantial and often recurrent distress and impairment associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) in youth has prompted increased interest in the identification and dissemination of effective treatment models. Evidence supports the use of several antidepressant medications, specific psychotherapies, and, in the largest treatment study of depressed teenagers, the combination of fluoxetine and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) as effective treatments.1-3 CBT is the most extensively tested psychosocial treatment for MDD in youth, with evidence from reviews and meta-analyses that supports its effectiveness in that population.3-5

I have been invited to write a clinical article on psychotherapeutic interventions for chronic depression.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the major cause of death and disability among young adults. In spite of preventive measures, the incidence of a TBI associated with motor vehicle accidents, falls, assault, and high-contact sports continues to be alarmingly high and constitutes a major public health concern. In addition, the recent military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in a large number of persons with blast injuries and brain trauma. Taking into account that cognitive and behavioral changes have a decisive influence in the recovery and community reintegration of patients with a TBI, there is a renewed interest in developing systematic studies of the frequency, mechanism, and treatment of the psychopathological alterations observed among these patients.

As psychiatrists we need to clarify within our profession and with our patients what therapies actually treat an illness and what therapies help one learn to function better.