Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Research has demonstrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is useful for a wide variety of problems, including depression, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders, and psychotic disorders. Morningside Recovery uses CBT because it is very practical and emphasizes looking at ourselves and our own thinking as the source of how we feel and what we do. The summary below provides a brief overview of the principles of CBT and how it applies at Morningside Recovery.
It’s important to note that CBT is not a particular technique, but actually a general term that describes a range of therapies. What cognitive therapeutic approaches have in common is that they are all based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, rather than external things like people, situations, and events. The idea that people shouldn’t let the external, uncontrollable world dictate how they feel is not new. Old-Timers in 12-Step programs often say, “Put your hand in front of your face. Everything on the other side of your hand is none of your business.” This time-tested advice can even be traced back to Socrates.
CBT is like the Socratic Method in that therapists seek a solid understanding of their clients’ concerns. Like Socrates sitting under a tree surrounded by his students, therapists ask a lot of questions before beginning exercises. This questioning rubs off on clients because they begin to ask themselves questions. For example, a client might ask himself, “Why do I get so angry when I see dishes in the sink? Is it because I’m extremely rigid and not as laidback as I think I am?” When people understand how and why they are doing something, they are free to make choices. CBT is based on the idea that most emotional and behavioral reactions are learned. Therefore, the ultimate aim is to give clients the tools to recognize their behavior as conditioned or learned reactions. Seen in this light, clients can learn a new way of reacting. This is not always easy, and that’s why elements of CBT can be traced to existential philosophy’s ideas about personal responsibility.
Existential philosophy is often confused with nihilism, when actually it simply suggests a person stays calm. For example, if a man backs his car into a light pole he has a problem. If he boils over with frustration, he has two problems – the car accident and his anger over it. Unless he enjoys grinding his teeth and feeling bad, he learns how to more calmly accept his problem. Even “rage-aholics” want to put themselves in a better position to make use of their intelligence, experience and energy to fix the problem. One therapist at Morningside says, “Everybody does things that counter to their own best interest. But people genuinely seeking help from therapy do not want to feel the way they have been feeling. And everybody knows bad things happen whether or not we freak out over them.”
The assumption above that the client wants to feel better is fundamental to CBT. CBT therapists believe that clients change because they learn how to think differently and they act on that learning. Morningside therapists ask their clients what they want out of life and then help their clients achieve those goals. The therapist’s role is to listen, teach, and encourage, while the client's role is to honestly express concerns, learn, and work hard to implement that learning. In other words, CBT is more than scribbling down a personal inventory of “character flaws.” CBT therapists don’t tell their clients what to do -- rather, clients learn how to do. The focus is on teaching rational self-counseling skills. Treatment focuses on thought patterns that cause distress and also on developing more adaptive, realistic interpretations of events. Delusions (non-psychotic) are combated by developing an understanding of the kind of evidence the client uses to support the belief and encouraging the client to recognize evidence that may have been overlooked.
Research has repeatedly shown that cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most efficient types of therapies because the problem solving strategies are designed to assess the specific problems of the individual client. Therapists and clients work together to figure out what factors are controlling or maintaining the problem behaviors, and then systematically apply interventions. Clients report feeling better in as few as sixteen sessions, while other forms of therapy don’t claim such quick results. For example, CBT deals with childhood trauma only as it relates to current behaviors and thinking. CBT attempts to be instructive instead of interpretive, making use of homework assignments and setting goals. At Morningside, therapists help clients understand at the very beginning of the process that there is a deadline for certain goals. Therefore, CBT is not an open-ended, never-ending process.
Morningside Recovery believes in achieving the best results in the shortest amount of time. The serene, structured residential treatment program at Morningside is the perfect environment to maximize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. All clients enjoy a well-thought-out treatment plan that is highly effective in developing a sense of completeness, enhancing self-respect, reducing dishonesty, and providing relief from the suffering caused by drugs and alcohol.
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