Cognitive behavioral therapy

Idalmis Espinosa

NRNP 6650: Psychotherapy With Groups and Families

Initial Post

Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the mostly used approach when it comes psychotherapy. This is an approach that has been given so much attention by researchers and it has been applied to a significant array of psychiatric and mental health issues. According to scholars, after considering the number of studies, publications, academic programs and professionals in practice that make use of or look into cognitive behavioral therapy, it suffices to say that CBT should be regarded as the gold standard when it comes to psychotherapy (David, Cristea & Hofmann, 2018). CBT is used in many situations including with individual, with groups and with families. It has already been established that there are many differences that exist when using CBT with individuals and when it is used with groups. This paper will consider the differences that exist when CBT is used with in group settings and when it is used in family settings. Finally, the paper will present challenges that may exist when CBT is used in the group setting.

A family is also a group. This is because it entails more than one person. However, there are dynamics that come into play in a family setting that do not exist in a group setting. For instance, members of a family live together and they have expectations of ach other that do not exist in persons that have met for group therapy. The only thing that persons in a group therapy share is the disturbances or challenges that they face. Normally, when selecting persons to include in group therapy, it is always important to consider those that shares similar issues. The concepts and theoretical underpinnings of CBT will remain the same regardless of the setting. What changes is that the approach will differential the dynamics in family such as family structure from the dynamics in a normal group. For instance, in a family setting, there is no need for the stages of group formation. This is because members of the same family already know each other and they understand the conflict that exist between them. They have established roles of each individual in the family and everyone knows their place. However, in a group setting, there is need to go through the 5 stages of group formation such as forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Motherwell, 2011).

In a family setting, there is need to always consider various factors such as the functioning of the family, the level of cohesion between members of the family, the flexibility of the family to issues and the manner in which members communicate with each other. These are aspects that may have significant impact on any member of the family including the development of children (Lin et al., 2019). However, in a group therapy, there is no need to consider the history that members have because members meet in the group for the first time. They do not have a common perception in life or a common health belief. They are all different. As such, it is always important to address the differences and ensure that members in a group have a common goal regarding the group therapy. Roles have to be defined first and conflicts have to be solved. This is what may be very challenging in group therapy in a group setting. There are many processes that have to be defined and implemented first in order to make sure that curative factors occur. If the proper group dynamics are not established, it is going to be difficult for members of the group to benefit from the togetherness. They, for instance may not be themselves as is required so that everyone can experience some form of therapeutic fulfillment by being in the group. For instance, one curative factor is universality. Meaning that members get to appreciate the fact that they are not the only ones going through the challenge (Hauber et al., 2019). If the right environment is not created and if group dynamics and processes are not effectively implemented, members may not be open to each other and the curative factor of universality may not be experienced.

 

References

David, D., Cristea, I., & Hofmann, S. G. (2018). Why cognitive behavioral therapy is the current gold standard of psychotherapy. Frontiers in psychiatry, 9, 4.

Hauber, K., Boon, A. E., & Vermeiren, R. (2019). Therapeutic factors that promote recovery in high-risk adolescents’ intensive group psychotherapeutic MBT programme. Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 13(1), 1-10

Lin, Y. C., Washington-Nortey, P. M., Hill, O. W., & Serpell, Z. N. (2019). Family Functioning and Not Family Structure Predicts Adolescents’ Reasoning and Math Skills. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(10), 2700-2707

Motherwell, L. (2011). Support and Process‐Oriented Therapy Groups. The Wiley‐Blackwell Handbook of Group Psychotherapy, 275-298