Cognitive Therapy: Basic Principles and Applications [Hardcover]

Robert L. Leahy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996

Today, under pressure from managed care companies as well as from patients who are demanding briefer and more focused treatments, therapists are creatively combining cognitive and psychodynamic approaches and obtaining unprecedented therapeutic results.
In this volume, Robert Leahy describes Aaron Beck's seminal model of depression, anxiety, anger, and relationship conflict and shows how each of these problems is handled by the cognitive therapist in the context of an interactive therapeutic relationship. Leahy demonstrates how uncovering resistance to change and using the therapeutic relationship enhances recovery and promotes rapid change. With concrete examples he shows how to implement all of the basic cognitive techniques, including:

--activity scheduling

--graded task assignments

--exposure hierarchies

--response prevention

--challenging underlying schemas

--thought monitoring

Drawing from cognitive and dynamic orientations and taking into account the complexity of countertransference and resistance, this book is for today's clinicians who, rather than being wedded to a specific approach, are committed to a quick and successful therapeutic outcome.
A Jason Aronson Book

Editorial Reviews

Review

This volume–the first of its kind–is a treasure trove for clinicians, scholars, and researchers. Its vast scope includes the theory, technique, assessment, and treatment of cognitive therapy. (Aaron T. Beck )

Dr. Leahy has provided a thoughtful, scholarly portrayal of cognitive therapy and its underpinnings. The chapter on the historical context of cognitive therapy is especially pleasing. This text will satisfy those who wish to connect therapeutic principles to basic research in psychology, as well as practitioners who seek concrete, sensible advice on how to implement cognitive therapy to help their patients. (Robert J. DeRubeis )

A wonderfully practical guide to state-of-the-art practice of cognitive-behavioral assessment and treatment. Grounded in the author's substantial clinical experience, as well as a coherent theoretical base and current research findings, the text provides rich detail about clinical interventions and rationales for their use with depression, anxiety disorders, and couple relationship problems. Among the strengths of the book is Dr. Leahy's description of how short-term cognitive-behavioral approaches can easily be integrated into the work of therapists with differing theoretical orientations. Going far beyond a cookbook approach, Dr. Leahy demonstrates how the complexities of case formulation are addressed through developmental assessment of the patient and careful attention to issues of resistance and countertransference. This book is an excellent resource both for therapists who want to focus on the practice of cognitive therapy and those who want to broaden their repertoires with a variety of effective, relatively short-term therapeutic strategies. (Norman B. Epstein )

About the Author

Robert L. Leahy was educated at Yale University (B.A., M.S., Ph.D.) and at the Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School where he worked with Dr. Aaron Beck. He has taught at the New School for Social Research, New York University, Hofstra University, and is currently Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Cornell University Medical College. In 1985 he founded the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy in New York City where he and his staff provide training and services in cognitive therapy. Dr. Leahy has been Director of the Institute since its inception.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 262 pages
• Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc.; 1 edition (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568218508
• ISBN-13: 978-1568218502
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #864,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I guess I was destined to become a psychologist---given the experiences that I had. My parents were divorced when I was an infant--my father was an alcoholic and he was unable to support us. We moved back to New Haven Connecticut, lived with my Italian grandparents, and then moved to an Irish working-class housing project. We were poor, but we always had kids to play with and we learned the values of honesty, perseverance, fairness, and keeping your eye on the prize. When I wasn't playing basketball, I was reading everything. My mom told me that she couldn't afford to send me to college, but I insisted I would get a scholarship. Fast forward--- I got my undergraduate degree and PhD at Yale. Later I did my postdoctoral training with Aaron Beck, the founder of cognitive therapy.
I have been interested in helping people overcome depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and relationship issues. Someone asked me, "Don't you get depressed talking to depressed people?", and I respond, "There's nothing more rewarding than helping people overcome depression". I've written and edited fifteen other books for psychologists-- books on depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, etc. I lecture throughout the world and I am excited that several of my books have been adapted as training texts at leading schools. The great appeal of cognitive and behavioral therapy is that it actually works. People get better. There is hope--even if you feel hopeless.
I have also been fortunate to be able to play a role in professional organizations that promote cognitive therapy. I am the President of the International Association of Cognitive Therapy, President-elect of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and I serve on a number of international and national committees, boards, and journals. My colleagues and I are helping to coordinate the training of cognitive therapists in Beijing, China, and at The American Institute for Cognitive Therapy we are training psychiatrists and psychologists in cognitive therapy in the New York area. I began working on the popular audience book, The Worry Cure, a few years ago. I decided to write an "honest" and "informed" book---one that drew on the best work by the top people worldwide. I have identified seven steps to overcome worry-- each step reflecting not only my own ideas but the work of leading experts. I am honored that many of them in USA, Canada and the UK have told me personally how much they appreciate the work reflected in this book. I owe a great deal of gratitude to the leading researchers throughout the world who really made this book possible. The Worry Cure tries to provide you with a serious understanding about the nature of worry--- the intolerance of uncertainty, the over-valuation of thinking, the avoidance of emotion, procrastination, the sense of urgency, and the maladaptive beliefs underlying your worry. I try to provide you with a full-range of self-help tools--- realizing that no one of them will work for everyone. A number of our patients at our clinic use the Worry Cure as part of their self-help--and they find it reassuring to know that they can now understand why their worry has persisted and how they can reverse this detrimental process.
The Worry Cure was named by Self Magazine as one of the top eight self-help books of all time. I was stunned when I read that--- my colleague Rene showed me the story in the magazine. But I have been fortunate to have been able to learn from my patients about the nature of their worry and what helps them--and to be able to write something that can make a difference.
My friend, Bill, said to me when I was writing this, "Bob, if you help one person overcome their anxiety it would be worth it." It's like the wise saying, "You save the world one life at a time".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Book!, June 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Cognitive Therapy: Basic Principles and Applications (Hardcover)

This book succeeds in making cognitive therapy principles accessible for those of us trained in a dynamic model. This is an excellent tool for all clinicians.