Cognitive Life Skills

Cognitive Therapy

  The problem with cognitive therapy is the therapy. If someone needs cognitive therapy how do you know the therapist and the curriculum he/she is using is able to change faulty thinking errors and self defeating behaviors? There are thousands of therapists each with their own interpretations and curriculum. Few if any are evidence based with proof that what they are using is correct and highly effective. Almost any counseling program can claim it is cognitive therapy, but few if any can prove it works.  In a sense cognitive therapy is a misnomer. The definition of therapy is the treatment of illness or disability. The use of cognitive therapy in mental illness is largely ineffective because you can’t use cognitive restructuring training on someone who is not cognitive. The same holds true to children. Cognitive therapy is ineffective on children for the same reason, because they are not yet cognitive.  The problem with using therapists to facilitate cognitive therapy programs is that most therapists are emotionally sick themselves with many living in the box of self deception. That is they don’t know they are sick and therefore pass on their sickness (untruths) to their clients. Millions of people go to psycho therapists for years at great costs, yet never get better and many get worse. Yet skilled cognitive life skills counselors with correct evidence based curriculum can assist people in making permanent changes in a matter of hours instead of days, months and years.  This is not to say that all therapists are inefective. The best counselors/therapists have a positive way of being. People respond because of the truth, not to counseling techniques. The truth resonates at a frequency that can pierce the viel of self imposed falsehoods and help people overcome years of bad programing.  

Think cognitive restructuring life skills vs a clinical approach for cognitive therapy. Look for evidence based cognitive restructuring programs that can provide proof that their curriculum and approach works. Look for authors and organizations that have years of experience in holding and facilitating groups. No book learning can replace actual hands on experience. By Larry Lloyd, Lifeskills Counselor                                See www.accilifeskills.com