Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be effective in addressing multiple psychological disorders and disturbances.

One of the most widely used methods in this type of treatment is cognitive restructuring, which aims to modify negative thoughts and dysfunctional beliefs that generate discomfort and emotional disturbance.

In this article we explain what the cognitive restructuring technique is and what the main methods used are and how they differ.

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Cognitive restructuring: definition and theoretical bases

Cognitive restructuring is a psychological technique used in cognitive behavioural therapy that serves to identify and correct dysfunctional or negative thoughts. This tool allows the psychologist and the patient to work together in the search for alternatives and in the restructuring of certain ideas and nuclear beliefs that generate a subtle discomfort difficult to detect by oneself.

This cognitive technique manages thoughts as hypotheses to be tested or refuted through Socratic dialogue (a dialectical method that seeks the demonstration of hypotheses through inquiry and the search for new ideas and concepts), the formulation of questions and the performance of behavioural experiments (such as asking other people questions, daring to act in a certain way, observing someone’s behaviour, etc.) to test dysfunctional beliefs.

Cognitive restructuring is based on the following theoretical foundations:

  • How people structure their beliefs and ideas influences how they perceive the world and themselves, how they feel (including physiological reactions) and how they act.

  • People’s cognitions can be detected through psychological methods and tools such as the interview, questionnaires, the Socratic method or self-registration.

  • Cognitions can be modified to achieve a therapeutic change (modification of the patient’s behaviour).

Cognitive restructuring methods

Cognitive restructuring, as the cognitive technique that it is, implicitly assumes the postulates of cognitive psychology that people react to events according to the meaning that we assign to them; that is, what is important is not so much what happens, but what we tell ourselves happens (or how we evaluate what happens to us).

The different methods of cognitive restructuring that have been implemented over the years assume that dysfunctional beliefs can cause affective and behavioral disorders, hence the main objective of all of them is to modify such beliefs by more coherent and functional cognitions, either by addressing internal verbal behavior (what we believe about the world and ourselves) or the core beliefs that define our personality (such as believing that we deserve to be loved by everyone).

Next, we will look at two of the main methods of cognitive restructuring most used in cognitive-behavioral therapy.

1. Ellis’ Rational Emotional Behavioral Therapy

Rational Emotional Behavioral Therapy, developed by the American psychologist Albert Ellis (1913-2007), is a method of brief psychotherapy based on the premise that most affective problems and disorders (and associated behaviors) have their origin in erroneous and irrational interpretations that we make of what happens to us.

This therapy is based on the ABC cognitive model , where A represents the event or occurrence that is causing us problems; B, the beliefs or interpretation that we make of this event; and C, the emotional and behavioural consequences (including physiological reactions) that all this causes us.

According to Ellis, we suffer from emotional problems because we tend to generate irrational ideas about certain events. For example, believing that we need to depend on other people, that it is better to avoid certain responsibilities or that certain events are catastrophic, are just some of them.

Catastrophizing (believing that something bad that happens to us is horrible and we can never stand it), thinking in absolute terms (with thoughts like “I must pass all subjects”) and overgeneralizing (if I ride a bike and fall, thinking that every time I ride I will fall), are three of the main cognitive evils that Ellis highlights in his theory.

Ellis’ approach is basically about confronting these irrational beliefs with more positive and realistic thinking. First, by identifying thoughts that generate discomfort and are based on dysfunctional beliefs; second, by employing an impetuous Socratic method that serves as a counterargument; and third, through modeling techniques (learning by imitation) and homework, patients learn to modify their beliefs based on what they have learned in therapy.

2. Beck’s Cognitive Therapy

Another method of cognitive restructuring is included in the cognitive therapy developed by the American psychiatrist Aaron Beck , which was originally intended to treat depressive disorders, although it is now also used to treat a wide variety of psychological disorders, such as anxiety, obsessive disorders, phobias or psychosomatic disorders.

To apply Beck’s cognitive restructuring technique it is necessary, firstly, to identify the dysfunctional thoughts that are generating emotional alterations through mental exercises and questions from the Socratic method; secondly, after having identified the dysfunctional beliefs, to try to counteract them with methods such as testing the hypotheses (with real behavioural experiments) or staging and role-playing.

Finally, in Beck’s therapy, homework is a fundamental part of the therapy so that patients can practice what they have learned .

In relation to the theoretical bases on which this method of cognitive restructuring is based, Beck states the following: people who suffer from affective and behavioural disorders do so due to an excess of negative and dysfunctional thoughts and beliefs, something similar to what Ellis proposed.

Here are some examples of the dysfunctional beliefs often addressed in Beck’s cognitive therapy:

  • Dichotomous thinking : believing something in absolute terms, black or white, like thinking that everything will go wrong when you have a fault.

  • Arbitrary inference : this dysfunctional belief (or cognitive bias) consists of taking something for granted or drawing general conclusions about it without having sufficient evidence for it. For example, thinking that you are going to fail an entire academic year because you had a bad grade on an exam.

  • Overgeneralization : this dysfunctional idea, which we have already seen in Ellis’ therapy, is a cognitive distortion that makes us draw general conclusions from specific and anecdotal events.

  • Magnification : to exaggerate or give more importance to an event than it has.

Differences between Ellis’ and Beck’s approach

Clearly, there are similarities between the two main methods of cognitive restructuring, Ellis’ rational emotive-behavioral therapy approach and Beck’s cognitive therapy approach; however, there are also some differences.

Both therapies assume and base their therapeutic procedures on the idea that people suffer emotional disturbances due to irrational or dysfunctional cognitive patterns, ideas and beliefs that cause them. And both approaches attempt to modify such thoughts through cognitive and behavioral techniques.

However, in Ellis’s therapy, rational debate is mainly used to test the validity of irrational beliefs , unlike Beck’s, which more frequently employs the method of hypothesis testing to test the veracity of dysfunctional thoughts.

Something that also differentiates both therapies has to do with the ultimate foundation on which each therapy is constituted; Ellis puts a greater philosophical and humanist emphasis (he is in favor of a deep philosophical change in the person) and Beck a more scientific one, which does not prevent Ellis’ postulates from being scientifically validated as well.

Finally, there is another difference in the approach to working with patients. Ellis’ approach seeks to modify irrational beliefs with more aggressive and relentless questioning, while Beck’s approach seeks to help the patient perform tasks that test those beliefs, with a kinder approach.

Bibliographic references:

  • Bados, A., & García, E. (2010). The technique of cognitive restructuring. Barcelona, Spain: Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment. Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona.

  • Martin, G., & Pear, J. (2008). Behavior modification: what it is and how to apply it. Editorial: Prentice Hall. Madrid.