Human Experience and the value of Cognitive Therapy Cognitive Therapy:Cognitive Behavioral Therapies can be helpful in overcoming some of the life inhibiting effects of personal and social trauma but, on their own will not always heal the hurt and some of the subtler psychological and emotional consequences. Cognitive Therapy has its part to play and for some that is enough, for others it is not.. This is especially true if the abuse you have experience recently, are a repercussion of an earlier, childhood abuses and neglects. We are all different and learn things differently. As a consequence we all have different personalities, strengths and apparent weaknesses. Sometimes the abusive experiences have such a big impact upon us that we can not give up 'The Experience'. This can be very unhealthy, of course. It can keep us in a state of distress, going over the same old ground and making the same old mistakes. This is sometime identified as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We get into a cycle of repeatedly going over the same ground, hoping to get the answer, or that we get comfortable with the problem. Sometimes we become trapped by this repeated attempt to find a solution. We become blinkered and even 'tunnel vision', unable to get the ideas out of our head. The negative thoughts bring up the negative feeling and the negative feeling get us thinking about the events that got us into this state. We go round in decreasing circles of despair. Cognitive Therapy is a simple means of 'training' ourselves to look for new, more positive thoughts and experiences, which help us get out of this cycle. Cognitive Therapy is nothing magical. It is a technique that is a tidied up form of thinking which we have quite naturally used in the past, under happier circumstances. It was so natural we rarely had to think about it and that is the big secret - not thinking about it. It is a kind of 'distraction' thinking and 'proactive' action. Instead of focusing on trying to 'solve' the problem, or 'work it out' of our system, we can consider what we have positively learned from the experience, the strength we have gained in surviving it. The idea that we have years of positive opportunities ahead of us, if we discard the hurtful memories today. The trick is not to try to solve the problem in one big step. Take each little thought and feeling and replace them with one that is more hopeful, with more pleasant sensations. By doing it a bit at a time, we are less likely to be so disanointed when don't quite get it right. It is better to move ahead by small steps than fall back at a great leap. It is but slowly changing your expectations and letting go of the thoughts, that we give ourselves the chance to feel the 'relief' of not feeling. Once we are free of the old feelings we naturally replace them with new ones. Sometime the new ones are not brilliant, but they are different and can be improved upon later and so we move forward. This page is in the stage of preparation. There are some links on the right that may be helpful: | NOTE: This Document is still at some stage of development. You are invited to respond and comment on its content and its logic. If you return to the document at a future date, you will be able to see its continued development, hopefully reflecting your own and others commentary. I thank you, in advance, for any contribution that you make. Please also feel free to visit and contribute, in any valid way, to these and other social issues, through our Forums. There is also a Chat Room and protected Chat Space for more serious group discussions and individual counselling. Please feel free o use this space for your legitimate activities. Copyright: Although you will see very few reference to other formal writings in this document, I acknowledge general recognition to the discussions and debates that I have had with students, practitioners and clients over the years. Most of the ideas and theory has evolved through this rather pragmatic process (operational research), rather than any formal reading. If any content of this document describes concepts, theory, or ideas that have been established else where, (prior to my writing, either here or else where - in part or in full), I acknowledge their entitlement to claim them as their intellectual property for financial purposes, if they can evidence this. I also reserve the right to retain them as my intellectual property, with due recognition to those who have made direct contributions, including other writers, should I identify such a past influences. Other than this, I invite you to share and copy any content, to the benefit of intellectual debate and the benefit of individuals and groups, without restriction, other than it be used for constructive purpose, in the wider context of my writing. Should you wish to use any material presented here 'as is', I ask that you then make reference to myself and the web site. The 'Reading Date' would be a useful 'publishing date' for the Current Edition. 1980 is the core publishing date for most of the basic ideas and theory (unless stated otherwise). This 'Reading Date' may be an important part of this 'reference', as the document (by its 'internet fluid' nature) will be constantly changing and this may affect meaning and interpretation, for those following up on such a reference at a later date. Thank you for your cooperation. TRC. eMail: terry.couchman@visitweb.org |
