Two behaviourists meet each other in the street. "Hi," says one, "How am I feeling today?"
Behaviourism focuses on observable behaviours, treatment is oriented to changing specific behaviours that are problematic.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY (CBT) is probably the most popular form of therapy today. Largely because it has funded more research into the effectiveness of its interventions than other approaches. It has shown impressive results and this has led to its being one of the most recommended forms of therapy according to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). One important criticism of those results is that the selection criteria for participants in research are so stringent that they cannot be said to represent the actual range of people that seek help. More recently research has revealed weaknesses in the long term effectiveness of this approach. Psychologists are divided in their opinions on CBT and certainly it doesn't help everyone.
It is an active, psycho-educational approach to therapy which highlights the thoughts and behaviours that cause or maintain problematic symptoms. The focus is on the reduction of symptoms and the method is to change, or adapt the particular negative thoughts and ineffective or destructive behaviours that underpin and maintain the symptoms. In this model, therapy is usually short term, which is less than 20 sessions. It is also very focussed on specific areas for change that are decided collaboratively in sessions and which form the basis of homework tasks between sessions.
Recommended by NICE (The National Institute for Clinical Excellence) for the following conditions:
Depression, Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic Pain, Eating Disorders, Managing Long term Physical Conditions, Phobias, Panic Disorder and Schizophrenia.
CBT Books
Nearly all the self-help literature is written from a CBT perspective, and there are an enormous range of books addressing common mental health problems.
Recent research (reported in the Psychologist Research Digest June 2015) has shown that use of self-help books is most effective in combination with CBT face to face therapy, and that in some cases use of the books alone can worsen symptoms of depression.
The "Overcoming" series of self-help manuals, such as "Overcoming Depression", this series of CBT self-help books cover all the main mental health difficulties and I have found them very useful to clients as part of a CBT therapy.
Another very helpful book which also has a companion workbook for you, is: Mind Over Mood by Beck, Greenberger and Padesky.