What is cognitive therapy?

Cognitive therapy is based on the idea that our thoughts create our moods.

In CT we learn that we all have inherent tendencies to certain negative thoughts that evoke unhappiness and disturbance.

Once we accept that fact, we can learn to spot these negative thoughts as they come up, and then challenge and re-think them.

Who developed it?

Cognitive therapy was first developed in America around the middle of the 20th century.

Its main pioneer was Aaron Beck, a medical doctor, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who came to believe that he was not getting enough improvement in his patients through analysis.

He realised that often what was holding back patients were negative thoughts such as: 'I'll be hopeless at that', or 'I'm unlovable', or 'I'm stupid'.

Another therapist, Albert Ellis, was also coming to much the same conclusions about patients' negative thoughts and their tendencies to 'catastrophise' or 'awfulise'.

Ellis's work with patients also became a form of cognitive therapy, now more commonly called rational emotive behaviour therapy.

Both Beck and Ellis drew on the teachings of the stoic philosopher Epictetus who believed that: 'It's not things that upset us, it's our view of things.'

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