Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: state of the art, a review

• Main Authors: Ana Claudia C. de Ornelas Maia, Luís Moacir Nascimento Pereira, Antonio Egidio Nardi, Adriana Cardoso
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mavera, Edições Científicas e Técnicas Ltda
• Series: Medical Express
• Subjects: protocols; cognitive-behavioral therapy; conceptualization
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2358-04292015000600001&lng=en&tlng=en

Protocols in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy applied for individual or group for the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders has been found to be effective. Case conceptualization is relevant and essential in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy because it describes and explains patient presentations in ways that inform interventions. Yet the evidence base challenges the claimed benefits of case conceptualization. A systematic review of the literature has been conducted based on data from ISI Web of Knowledge and PubMed. Articles relating to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Protocols in both individual and group therapy procedures were selected. We reviewed 366 articles; we discarded 141, which were not in English, 86, which were reviews and 93 because of inadequate titles. After reading the abstracts a further 18 articles were excluded, leaving 28 to be fully evaluated. Finally, 19 were selected for the final review. These articles that describe Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy treatment for panic disorder, which were effective when patients were also treated by a psychiatrist. Depressive symptoms were only mildly reduced with cognitive therapy in patients seeking the acquisition of coping skills requiring deliberate efforts and reflective thought. Actually, changes in despair thoughts and behaviors require less rumination of negative interpretation of depressive patients. Finally, the Unified Protocol is an efficient procedure for group treatment in cases of generalized anxiety and mood disorders.