Why is it Important That CBT Allows Clients to Identify which of the Problems They Are

Facing Are Critical and Which Are Minor

Introduction

CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) assists clients in examining how their thoughts influence
their behavior. Its goal is to alter cognitive distortions and self-defeating behaviors. For example,
if you're meeting new people for the first time, you might have the automatic thought, "These
people won't like me because I have nothing interesting to share." What is troubling is not the
thought itself but the appraisal (or evaluation) that it may have merit. CBT's goal is to assist
people in making adaptive, rather than maladaptive, appraisals (e.g., "I do know interesting
things!"). This reappraisal technique, also known as cognitive restructuring, is an essential
component of CBT. The therapist's role in cognitive restructuring is to help point out when a
person has an incorrect or maladaptive thought to correct it.

Hundreds of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy in treating a

wide range of psychological disorders, including depression, PTSD, anxiety disorders, eating
disorders, bipolar disorder, and substance abuse (Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy,
n.d.). For example, CBT effectively reduces levels of hopelessness and suicidal ideation in
previously suicidal teenagers (Alavi, Sharifi, Ghanizadeh, & Dehbozorgi, 2013). Cognitive-
behavioral therapy has also been shown to be effective in treating PTSD in specific populations,
such as transit workers (Lowinger & Rombom, 2012).

In practicing CBT effectively, therapists should be able to collaborate with clients and manually
work hand in hand with them to better their situation.

Importance of allowing clients identify the critical problems they are facing and the minor
problems

It establishes collaboration

According to Beck (1995), Collaboration in CBT can be defined as teamwork that fosters active
client participation. In contrast, empiricism entails grounding interventions in the client's
experience (Kazantzis, Beck, Dattilio, Dobson, & Rapee, 2013). In CBT, the constructs of
collaboration and empiricism are commonly combined in the form of "collaborative empiricism"
(Dattilio & Hanna, 2012; Lam, Jones, & Hayward, 2010; Tee & Kazantzis, 2011), reflecting
their integrated use by clinicians. Collaboration in CBT specifically refers to the following:

 gathering information from the client (rather than relying on general principles or logic);
 providing client choice and soliciting client involvement in decision-making; and
 soliciting client feedback on session reactions (Kazantzis et al., 2017).
The collaboration aims to shift control to the client over time. This may reduce people's natural
resistance when confronted with a life change, making it less likely that the client will feel
patronized and the therapist will feel solely responsible for the client's progress.

Clients who have persistent relational issues or personality disorders may struggle with
collaboration. In such cases, the clinician would be wise to consider the client's beliefs when
developing a case and forming a collaboration. As early as the first session, the therapist could
inquire about a client's thoughts about the therapist, and if dysfunctional thoughts emerge, the
therapist could assist the client in testing them or seek for evidence to support or refute them
(Kazantzis, Beck, et al., 2013). Furthermore, when clients are allowed to make decisions on their
own, they have a sense of belonging and feel free to collaborate with the therapists and hasten
their treatment.

Therapists can better understand the problem of the client

As a therapist, it is wrong to just assume what your client might be facing and judge them based
on your assumptions. Clients should be questioned and allowed to speak up for themselves.
When clients are allowed to decide which problems they are facing that is critical, the therapist
will then tackle the problem and commence treatment from there. In most cases, this problems
form the basis of the automatic negative thoughts that roams the mind of the client. So their
healing should begin with them identifying their biggest problem.

Conclusion

Allowing clients identify the critical problems they are facing and the minor problem is of an
advantage to the therapist because it will no longer be a issue to treat the patient. Clients will also
feel loved and they can speak up and vent out all the anger and negative thoughts they feel
inside. And releasing all the toxic feelings they have is the beginning of their healing. Beginning
from the most critical problems a client is facing will help the client heal faster than they ever
imagined.

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