Customer Reviews

Cognitive Therapy: Basics and Beyond

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was introduced to cognitive therapy by a therapist
who recommended David Burns's popular "Feeling Good
Handbook". That is certainly a good book to start with,
but I wanted to learn more so I went to a bookstore and
found this book by Judith Beck. It is actually a textbook
for therapists and is not addressed to patients at all.
Nevertheless I have found it very useful because it is
much more structured than Burns's books. I particularly
found her schema of automatic thoughts (also found in
Burns), intermediate beliefs and core beliefs (the latter
two not found in Burns) to be very helpful. My personal
conclusion is that Burns's less disciplined approach is
probably helpful for simpler kinds of problems, whereas
Beck's formalism is going to be more relevant once you
discover that you want or need to get down below the
surface. The strength of Burns's book is he provides
lots of exercises. Since Beck's book is a text for
the therapist, it does not have exercises for the
patient reading it as self help. If you are reasonably
dedicated you can (and must) create your own exercises.
If you think you can make that bridge from text to
self help, then this may be a good book for you.

[ By the way, I think that Burns's discussion of
communication techniques in his "Feeling Good Handbook"
is the single most useful treatment of that subject I
have found for the single person (he doesn't consider
how committed couples can work on their communication
issues together, but there are lots of couples books
for that).]

A concise and comprehensive book that provides a basic understanding of cognitive therapy written by one of the leading cognitive therapists. Written with the beginner in mind, it is the only book I have found that provides specific instructions in actually DOING cognitive therapy with clients. Beck takes the reader from the initial session, through case conceptualization, specific interventions, to terminitation. There is even a section on trouble-shooting that is especially useful for students who may have little experience. One of the greatest benefits of the book is that it is written like a manual that beginners can use as a foundation for developing their own style of therapy. If you are a graduate student in a clinical training program, you should have this book whether you conduct cognitive therapy or not.

This is an excellent introductory source for anyone who is interested in learning Cognitive Therapy. I am a Master's level Professional Counselor in training, and therefore, needed to learn the basics of Cognitive Therapy. The book progresses from the basics of Cognitive Therapy to using advanced techniques. One of the greatest challenges for a Cognitive Therapist is to "teach" the client how to practice Cogntive techniques on their own. Dr. beck does a great job of explaining the rationale, as well as ways to empower the client to be their own therapist.

Judy Beck's Cognitive Therapy: Basics and Beyond is an excellent text for graduate students and clinicians beginning to learn Aaron T. Beck's system of cognitive therapy. It is highly readable and includes lots of examples of dialogue between therapist and client. J. Beck also addresses common problems that arise in cognitive therapy, such as failure to do homework and suicidality. In addition, Dr. Beck includes a number of valuable forms to use in cognitive therapy. I've been using this book for practicum students for several years now and am very pleased with the results.

When I first heard Judith Beck had written this book I expected she was simply riding her fathers coat tails. Her father Aaron Beck is often considered the father of cognitive therapy. Judy has established herself however as an important contributer to this field in her own right. This book is now required reading for begining cognitive therapists going to the Beck Institute for training. It covers all the important points in doing cognitive therapy with a range of disorders and is the logical place to start for the neophyte therapist and a good place to return for the experienced therapist to clarify what needs to be done if you are going to call it cognitive therapy.

As a therapist-in-training, I was looking for a resource that could take me beyond the basics of microskills interviewing. This book has proven to be a good starting point for those who wish to develop their therapy style toward the direction of the cognitive behavior therapy model.

Judith Beck's work is dense without being to jargon-ridden; cogent and insightful it walks the reader step-by-step toward a deeper understanding of the cogitive thearpy model of psychotherapy and case conceptualization. Interspersed throughout are case vignettes to highlight the intended point. The book is a tad pricey to be sure, but needful before embarking on other works by the likes of Robert Leahy, Ph.D., who has a tremendous operational grasp of CBT and has written many fine books on the subject.

But first grasp the basics...then you can go "beyond."

This text has two clear applications. First, it is a very good summary of techniques for the clinician, with multiple examples of tools available to conduct and reinforce CBT sessions and to maintain close patient involvement with accelerated self-management over time. Second, for intelligent, well informed patients (of well-informed family and friends) it can serve as design for some very useful self-management tools (or, for family / friends, a way to develop support tools). While I would not recommend this book for a lot of patients, there are certainly those who are motivated and will quickly adapt much of what Beck covers to supplement sessions with their therapist.

One of the key aspects to optimal CBT is to address automatic negative thoughts early, and to work on ways to manage them and replace them with positive automatic thoughts. Judith Beck outlines this process and clarifies the stages of a typical therapy course in a manner that lays a foundation and builds of the work to be completed.

Perhaps, for the clinician, the greatest value lies deeper in the book where several approaches are discussed about techniques to consider when the earlier approaches have failed or yielded questionable gains.

Overall, an excellent resource for the basics of CBT.

This is a superb book for therapists - experienced or novice - on the how-tos of doing cognitive therapy. It steps the reader through the basics, covers potential problems (from both client and therapist perspectives), provides advice on treatment planning and lists references for additional information on this effective form of therapy.

I am a patient that got more help from reading part of this book than I have from 11 years of therapy

This is truly a superb introductory book to cognitive therapy. I would highly recommend novice counselors, as well as those experienced counselors looking to expand their clinical skills. Judith Beck does an excellent job of walking the reader through the cognitive therapy process. Overall, the book is easy to follow and offers readers practical strategies, as well as the philosophical background to cognitive therapy. I believe this book is already on the shelves of many therapists and educators.