Many therapists use some forms of cognitive or cognitive-behavioral therapy at times. Cognitive therapy seeks to help people change how they think about things. Albert Ellis's Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is an example of this. Ellis considers strong emotions to result from an interaction between events in the environment and beliefs and expectations which we have. Aaron Beck developed a treatment for anxiety and depression based on cognitive theory.
Patients tune into their internal dialogue in order to change maladaptive thinking patterns.
Beck developed specific procedures to help challenge a depressive client's assumptions and beliefs. Patients learn how to change their thinking. According to Beck and Emery, the way we process information is governed by structures called schemata. These schemata are made up of rules for explaining incoming information, and for retrieving what we have already learned. They are capable of exerting powerful effects on how we experience and relate to the world.