Therapists use Cognitive-behavioral therapy to treat patients through changing thinking habits. The patient seems to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to traumatic experiences she experienced while serving in the army. The process of cognitive restructuring identifies and challenges negative thoughts such as those in the case study. Techniques of cognitive restructuring used in this situation include Socratic questioning, decatastrophizing, and putting thoughts on trial (Friedberg & Paternostro, 2019). Socratic questioning emphasizes the importance of questioning to uncover assumptions, such as Jill has about whether the accident was her fault. The decatastrophizing technique seeks to answer questions like ‘what if?’. The therapist does this by making Jill explore outcomes that would come about by her not following protocol and waving the other truck ahead.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a method used by therapists as a short-term treatment plan. The technique of putting thoughts on trial allows the patient to be the prosecutor and judge of their thoughts by presenting evidence that argues against their negative thoughts. The therapist makes Jill feel that she is justified to feel sad about the situation but still did a good thing by following set protocol, and she should not hold it against herself. Successive implementation of CBT in a clinical situation requires facilitators to establish effective communication with the targets of this treatment. Other factors like face-to-face communication, encouragement, and gathering feedback help in the process (Hadjistavropoulos et al., 2017). Adequate training and hospital policies also determine the success rate of implementing CBT practices. This method can be used in diagnosing and treating patients with more than one issue. Some conditions treated with CBT include anxiety and depression, OCD, grief, child behavioral problems, anger issues, stress, and trauma (Tovian & Palomares, 2020). This form of treatment is also used for individuals with phobias, substance disorders, and eating disorders. The number of therapy sessions a patient attends depends on the type and number of disorders.
References
Friedberg, R. D., & Paternostro, J. K. (2019). Cognitive-behavioral therapy with youth: Essential foundations and elementary practices. Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Medical Conditions, 87-101. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21683-2_7
Hadjistavropoulos, H., Nugent, M., Dirkse, D., & Pugh, N. (2017). Implementing internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy within community mental health clinics: A process evaluation using the consolidated framework for implementation research. BMC Psychiatry, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1496-7
Tovian, S. M., & Palomares, R. S. (2020). Clinical applications of the cognitive-behavioral theory of personality. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, 37-53. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119547181.ch273
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