Responding to Our Own Unhelpful Cognitions By Amy Cunningham, PsyD It’s quite challenging when clients engage in behaviors that we view negatively. This situation commonly arises when we work with clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). These clients have a history of disturbed relationships and a tendency to engage in maladaptive interpersonal behavior. We ourselves often have negative thoughts about these clients, especially when our own core beliefs become activated. While…
Category: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Catastrophic Thinking: A Transdiagnostic Process Across Psychiatric Disorders
Catastrophic Thinking: A Transdiagnostic Process Across Psychiatric Disorders Norman Cotterell, Ph.D.Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy Beck and Gellatly (2016) propose that catastrophic thinking is a central feature in psychopathology. Such thinking magnifies both the immediate and eventual consequences of any perceived threat. A variety of disorders can be conceptualized as such: Clients magnify external threats (accidents, attacks, arson) but most notably misinterpret and magnify perceived internal threats. Sensations, thoughts,…
Why Anxiety Persists
Why Anxiety Persists Judith S. Beck, Ph.D. and Robert Hindman, Ph.D. At our recent Core 2 CBT for Anxiety Disorders workshop, we asked participants what is helpful in managing anxiety? What is not helpful? Individuals with anxiety disorders unwittingly maintain their conditions by their behavioral strategies and their beliefs. Robert Hindman, PhD Avoidance is a hallmark of anxiety. Sometimes the avoidance is blatant, when, for example, an agoraphobic client does not…
Identical symptomology but different diagnoses: Treatment implications of an OCD versus schizophrenia diagnosis
Abstract Background: Individuals with identical symptomatology may receive conflicting diagnoses, potentially leading to different treatments. The aims of this study were to assess diagnostic impressions and treatment recommendations for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) versus schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD). Methods: Participants (N = 82) were recruited from accredited doctoral programs. All participants were randomized to assess diagnostic impressions and treatment recommendations for 15 vignettes. These were measured across three separate testing sessions. Results:…
Ethical considerations in exposure therapy with children
Abstract: Despite the abundance of research that supports the efficacy of exposure therapy for childhood anxiety disorders and OCD, negative views and myths about the harmfulness of this treatment are prevalent. These beliefs contribute to the underutilization of this treatment and less robust effectiveness in community settings compared to randomized clinical trials. Although research confirms that exposure therapy is efficacious, safe, tolerable, and bears minimal risk when implemented correctly, there…
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Abstract The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been the subject of much study over the past fifteen years. Building on a foundation of case studies and open clinical trials, the literature now contains many methodologically sound studies that have compared full CBT protocols to waitlist controls, pill placebo, psychosocial comparison conditions, active medication, combined treatments, and brief CBT. This review is part of a…