As an aspiring clinical psychologist that is hardcore into the idea that it is critical to our clinical work that we learn different techniques from different therapies, I want to focus on different therapeutic techniques. I think this is critical because in order to help our clients to the best of our abilities, we need to give ourselves as many tools as possible so we can share them with our clients. All to help them decrease their psychological distress, improve their lives and give back control of their lives to them. Therefore, in this clinical psychology podcast episode, you’ll learn what is guided imagery, Socratic questioning, and cognitive reframing. As well as what these techniques do, their advantages, disadvantages and more. If you enjoy learning about what mental health, therapy and practical techniques then this will be a great episode for you.
Today’s psychology podcast episode has been sponsored by CBT For Depression: A Clinical Psychology Introduction To Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Depression. Available from all major eBook retailers and you can order the paperback and hardback copies from Amazon, your local bookstore and local library, if you request it. Also available as an AI-narrated audiobook from selected audiobook platforms and library systems. For example, Kobo, Spotify, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Overdrive, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca.
Note: as always nothing on this podcast is ever any sort of official advice.
What Is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
In case there is anyone new to psychology or cognitive behavioural therapy reading or listening to this podcast episode, I wanted to take a moment to tell you about what CBT actually is. I laughed to myself in the creation of this episode because considering how much CBT-based content I’ve created over the years, including three books, I have never created a small definition of the therapy.
I seriously need to change that.
Thankfully, I have a nice paragraph in an assignment that explains this therapy from a few years ago.
“Nevertheless, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a highly effective psychotherapy for MDD (Lepping et al., 2017; Lopez-Lopez et al., 2019; NICE, 2018; Whiston et al., 2019) this essay will critically review in the rest of this paper. CBT is recommended as a gold standard treatment for MDD by the NICE guidelines (2022) involving a directive, time-limited, structured approach emphasising a collaborative therapeutic relationship between the psychotherapist and client (Fenn and Byrne, 2013) assuming maladaptive behaviours are learnt so they can be unlearned (Apolinário-Hagen et al., 2020). Therefore, therapist and client work to understand the client’s experiences and how to overcome overwhelming problems by breaking them down into smaller components (Davey et al., 2015). Clients learn how to identify unhelpful and unrealistic thinking processes and patterns maintaining their MDD (Davey et al., 2015) as well, so they can use the techniques they are taught in therapy to challenge these negative thoughts and change their habits in everyday life (Davey et al., 2015). Ultimately, CBT works by helping a client become more aware of the interrelationships between their thoughts, feelings and behaviours (Davey et al., 2015), including their negative cognitive styles, a cause of MDD identified by Alloy et al. (1999), and the Cognitive Triad as identified by Beck et al. (1985).”
What Are Three Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Techniques?
What Is Guided Imagery?
This therapy technique was introduced by the Father of CBT himself, Aaron Beck, in the 1970s, and it gets clients to use mental imagery to relax and help clients to deal with their anxiety and stress. For instance, a therapist could guide a client to imagine a peaceful, lustrous forest and help the client to focus on the forest’s sounds, smells, sights and sensations. As well as Guided Imagery can be useful for clients with stress, anxiety or trauma with it taking between 10-30 minutes.
Moreover, the advantage of Guided Imagery is that it helps to promote relaxation and reframes negative thoughts within clients. Yet some clients might struggle with the visualization part of this technique, so it isn’t right for everyone.
What Is Socratic Questioning?
This is a therapy technique that I’ve heard a lot about but no one has ever actually taken the time to explain what it is to me, and I have never looked it up. Until now. As a result, Socratic Questioning was typically introduced in the 1920s based on the Greek Philosopher Socrates then Aaron Beck adapted this type of questioning for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Socratic Questioning was designed to take 10-20 minutes for clients with distorted thinking patterns and it involves asking guided questions to help clients challenge their irrational beliefs.
For instance, you might ask a client “What evidence do you have that you’ll fail this subject at school?” then as a client can’t find any evidence to support their thoughts, this helps to challenge this negative belief.
One advantage of Socratic Questioning is that it encourages a client to critically think about their negative beliefs but it can be confrontational.
This next comment I say extremely unofficially because nothing on this podcast is ever any sort of official advice. Yet this can be effective when talking with friends who are struggling with their mental health and have several irrational beliefs.
What is Cognitive Reframing?
Out of all the different therapy techniques used within Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, this might be the most famous or at least it’s one of the ones I’ve heard most about. Since cognitive reframing was introduced in the 1960s by Albert Ellis. As well as cognitive reframing is designed to take about 5-15 minutes and it helps a client to view situations from a different, typically more positive perspective.
One example of this reframing could be helping a client to reframe “I failed my driving test” into “Now, I know what I need to practise for next time”.
Furthermore, one advantage of cognitive reframing is that encourages clients to look at situations from a new, more positive perspective so this reduces distress. Although, this reframing might not work for deeply held beliefs.
Clinical Psychology Conclusion
At the end of this first podcast episode in our little mini-series focusing on different therapeutic techniques, I want to conclude by saying that I’m really excited for the upcoming episodes. Since whether you love or hate Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or any of the other psychotherapies we’re going to be looking at in the upcoming episodes, each therapy has something fascinating to offer us as aspiring or qualified psychologists.
And when you listen to the podcast, read one of my books or just learn about psychology, I want you to focus on that sense of curiosity. Since there are a good few areas of psychology that I have no interest in whatsoever, yet I still learn about those areas. Due to one day with one client with one particular mental health difficulty, it might be useful. That simple piece of knowledge might be the difference between helping or not helping a client to improve their life.
That is why learning, developing and expanding our psychological knowledge base is always flat out critical.
Thankfully, it’s a lot of fun too. Especially, when it comes to therapy techniques.
I really hope you enjoyed today’s clinical psychology podcast episode.
If you want to learn more, please check out:
CBT For Depression: A Clinical Psychology Introduction To Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Depression. Available from all major eBook retailers and you can order the paperback and hardback copies from Amazon, your local bookstore and local library, if you request it. Also available as an AI-narrated audiobook from selected audiobook platforms and library systems. For example, Kobo, Spotify, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Overdrive, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca.
Have a great day.
Clinical Psychology References and Further Reading
Nakao, M., Shirotsuki, K., & Sugaya, N. (2021). Cognitive–behavioral therapy for management of mental health and stress-related disorders: Recent advances in techniques and technologies. BioPsychoSocial medicine, 15(1), 16.
Bieling, P. J., McCabe, R. E., & Antony, M. M. (2022). Cognitive-behavioral therapy in groups. Guilford publications.
Fitzsimmons-Craft, E. E., Taylor, C. B., Graham, A. K., Sadeh-Sharvit, S., Balantekin, K. N., Eichen,
D. M., ... & Wilfley, D. E. (2020). Effectiveness of a digital cognitive behavior therapy–guided self-help intervention for eating disorders in college women: A cluster randomized clinical trial. JAMA network Open, 3(8), e2015633-e2015633.
Gautam, M., Tripathi, A., Deshmukh, D., & Gaur, M. (2020). Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression. Indian journal of psychiatry, 62(Suppl 2), S223-S229.
Marciniak, M. A., Shanahan, L., Rohde, J., Schulz, A., Wackerhagen, C., Kobylińska, D., ... & Kleim, B. (2020). Standalone smartphone cognitive behavioral therapy–based ecological momentary interventions to increase mental health: Narrative review. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(11), e19836.
Sigurvinsdóttir, A. L., Jensínudóttir, K. B., Baldvinsdóttir, K. D., Smárason, O., & Skarphedinsson, G. (2020). Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for child and adolescent anxiety disorders across different CBT modalities and comparisons: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 74(3), 168-180.
Urits, I., Callan, J., Moore, W. C., Fuller, M. C., Renschler, J. S., Fisher, P., ... & Viswanath, O. (2020). Cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of chronic pelvic pain. Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology, 34(3), 409-426.
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