Cognitive Behavioral Therapy How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be used as a treatment. Article includes an introduction to CBT, exposure therapy, the Negative Triad as well as the successes and criticisms of the treatment.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a therapeutic approach in psychology that is intended to help individuals learn to cope with anxiety inducing or stressful situations by rationally addressing faulty cognition and the ways in which it leads to inappropriate and self-defeating behaviors. For those with some knowledge of the history of psychology, even the name of the therapy might cause some confusion, as the disciplines of cognitive psychology and behaviorism are often seen as being at odds with one another. In this case, however, the theorists are more firmly on the side of cognitive psychology they definitely hold cognitive processes to have some degree of agency in causing behavior. They are not simply types of behavior in and of themselves.The whole of cognitive behavioral therapy is quite vast, with a number of different approaches and techniques that ultimately intend to accomplish the same goals. As a therapeutic device, it has proven quite successful in helping diminish phobias, overcome anxiety disorders, and relieve the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.Exposure TherapyOne of the areas in which cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, has made the most strides is in dealing with anxiety and phobia. The underlying principle behind CBT is that one holds false beliefs and expectations about the world that adversely color our interactions with others, causing undue stress and anxiety. The psychologist O. Mowrer was one of the first to attempt to undermine those false beliefs with a form of therapy intended to improve behavior by way of cognition.This type of therapy, known as exposure therapy, worked as follows. Suppose that you were afraid of spiders. Even if you knew rationally that a spider wasn't poisonous and posed no threat to you, you would still feel anxious when a spider came near you, and have feelings close to panic if one touched you. For the cognitive psychology, what is going on here? You hold false beliefs about spiders on some level, such that when you're exposed to them, your experience is affected adversely by your irrational cognition. The anxiety and fear you feel as a result reinforces those irrational feelings, making things worse. With exposure therapy, you would be gradually exposed to your stressor (spiders), while at the same time having your typical response (anxiety and fear) suppressed. For instance, a therapist might place a spider near you and help you maintain a sense of calm through talking and becoming slowly and gradually acclimated to the idea of having a spider near you. In time, you might even be able to touch the spider. Eventually, your fears should diminish entirely. How does this work? It's simply that, if you're exposed to a spider without allowing your anxiety to be triggered, the stimulus of the spider gradually becomes disassociated from the response of anxiety, and the phobia is conquered. Aaron Becks Negative TriadAnother cognitive psychologist, Aaron Beck, was the first to formalize