Download Chapter 16: Cognitive-Behavioral Theories: Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck

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Chapter 16: Cognitive-Behavioral Theories: Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck, Arnold
Lazarus
Cognitive Distortions
Cognitive therapists such as Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis view cognitive distortions as
causal to many forms of psychopathology. In other words, they believe that people become
depressed, anxious, or otherwise psychologically impaired as their thinking becomes
irrational.
Beck identified numerous specific cognitive distortions, including the following:
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Dichotomous thinking-thinking in "black and white" terms rather than "shades of
gray." As a result, any experience that is not a complete success is a complete
failure.
Personalization-blaming one's self for unwanted external events, when in fact they
may have other causes.
Magnification and minimization-"making a mountain out of a molehill" when
unwanted events take place, and to do the opposite when positive events occur
Overgeneralization-mistakenly inferring broad, general conclusions from isolated
unwanted events
Selective abstraction-taking a detail out of context allowing it to determine your
conclusions while ignoring all other explanations
Arbitrary inference-reaching a conclusion that is not supported or may be
disconfirmed by evidence
Experienced cognitive therapists often conclude that particular cognitive distortions can
lead to particular forms of psychopathology. For example, magnification can lead to
depression by unrealistically increasing the perceived importance of an unfortunate or
undesired event. Depression can also result from dichotomous thinking, in that a person
who falls short of perfection views his or her performance as a complete disappointment
rather than more accurately placing it somewhere in the middle ground. Beck himself
identified the "cognitive triad"-a negative view of the self, the world, and the future-as an
underlying factor in depression. Dichotomous thinking, magnification, or a number of other
cognitive distortions can produce this "negative view." In addition to depression, disorders
involving anxiety (generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, etc.) are
another clinical area in which cognitive therapies have been used successfully.
Personalization can produce clinically significant anxiety by unduly placing excessive
responsibility on the individual for an unwanted event that has happened or may happen in
the future. ("If [a negative event] happens, it'll be my fault"). Selective abstraction can also
generate enough anxiety to interfere with daily life if an individual concentrates so
exclusively on troubling or disturbing aspects of a situation that he or she misrepresents it
as unrealistically problematic.
Cognitive psychotherapy, of which cognitive distortions such as those described by Beck
are the centerpiece, has accumulated significant empirical support. In recent decades, many
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psychotherapy outcome studies have concluded that this approach is efficacious or
effective in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and many other clinical conditions.
Andrew M. Pomerantz, Ph. D.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Critical Thinking Questions:
1. If you were a psychotherapist specializing in anorexic clients, which cognitive
distortions would you expect to see most frequently? Explain the link between those
distortions and the anorexic symptoms.
2. Consider Paranoid, Dependent, and Avoidant Personality Disorders. If you were a
psychotherapist specializing in clients with one of these disorders, which cognitive
distortions would you expect to see most frequently? Explain the link between those
distortions and the personality disorder symptoms.
3. Can cognitive distortions ever be beneficial? Can you think of an example of a
person who, by thinking in irrational ways, could actually enhance his or her mental
health rather than jeopardizing it?
Web Links:
http://depression.about.com/cs/psychotherapy/a/cognitive.htm
A list of examples of many categories of cognitive distortions such as all-or-nothing
thinking, overgeneralization, and personalization.
http://groups.msn.com/AaronBeckHomepage
An Aaron Beck homepage.
http://www.fenichel.com/Beck-Ellis.shtml
A summary of the appearances of Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck at the 2000 Convention of
the American Psychological Association.