Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Individual vs. Family CBT

Cognitive behavioral therapy is short-term psychotherapy that emphasizes the need for attitude change in order to maintain and promote behavior modification (Nichols, 2014). Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) has been found to be effective in a broad range of disorders. CBT can be done as an individual treatment or in a family setting. Individual CBT has a broadly defined framework with an emphasis on harm-reduction, especially with clients that have anxiety and substance abuse (Wheeler, 2014).

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for families is also brief and is solution-focused. Family CBT is focused on supporting members to act and think in a more adaptive manner, along with learning to make better decisions to create a friendlier, calmer family environment (Nichols, 2014). An example from practicum is a male (T.M) that participates in individual CBT once a week and family CBT once a week. T.M is struggling with alcoholism.

He originally presented for individual CBT because he had been “told by his wife” that he had a problem with alcohol. He reported that he drank “a few vodka drinks” three times a week but none for six weeks. Individual CBT therapy is a collaborative process between the therapist and client that takes schemas and physiology into consideration when deciding the plan of care (Wheeler, 2014). We worked with him using open-ended questions to assist with obtaining cognitive and situational information.  He would become angry easily and it was a felt that he was not being truthful about his alcohol use. Each time he was questioned about it, the story would change. He attended two individual sessions and it was then recommended he begin family CBT with his significant other (S.M) because “things were not going well at home.”

With family CBT, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors are seen as having a mutual influence on one another (Nichols, 2014). The first session was stressful, to say the least. T.M began talking about his alcohol use. S.M interrupted and said, “what about that one-time last month at the hotel. You were seeing things.” He became defensive, raised his voice, and said, “I was drugged. It had nothing to do with drinking.” She then looked down and was tearful. When he left the room to use the bathroom, S.M questioned if he could be tested for alcohol. This led the therapist to believe that T.M’s last use was not six weeks ago.

T.M’s automatic thoughts were that his alcoholism was not a problem in the marriage or in life. One of the core principles in using CBT for SUDs is that the substance of abuse serves as a reinforcement of behavior (McHugh et al., 2010). Over time, the positive and negative reinforcing agents become associated with daily activities. CBT tries to decrease these effects by improving the events associated with abstinence or by developing skills to assist with reduction (McHugh et al., 2010).

It was noticed that when T.M was alone, his stories would change. But when his wife was in the room, he would look at her while he spoke to ensure what he was saying was accurate. The therapist informed the client that it would be appropriate to continue individual therapy and family CBT once a week with the recommendation of joining the ready for change group. The CBT model for substance use states that, when a person is trying to maintain sobriety or reduce substance use, they are likely to have a relapse (Morin et al., 2017).

Ready for change meetings was recommended because like this week’s media showed, clients may relate to others that are going through similar situations. Getting T.M to realize that his alcohol use is a problem, is the primary goal currently. This example was shared because it shows the difficulties that may be encountered with psychotherapy and that both individual and family may be needed to ensure that goals are met. Some challenges that counselors face when using CBT in the family setting are wondering if the structure of the session and if the proper techniques were effective (Ringle et al., 2015). Evaluating and consulting with peers may also assist with meeting client and family goals.