Introduction
The mental and physical health of every human being are closely connected; they influence one another and can cause different kinds of abnormalities and malfunctions when the balance is ruined. The balance can be said the condition of being healthy (instead of considering oneself healthy) as physically as mentally. Emotions and our attitude are of great importance for the normal maintenance of the whole organism. The middle of the twentieth century gave people two brilliant theories which can be used in psychology for the treatment of depression and other malfunctions.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies
Rational emotive behavior therapy was introduced by the American psychotherapist and psychologist Albert Ellis in the middle of the 1950s. This therapy presupposes that a person (can be also referred to as a client or a patient) should he or she upsets himself/herself more often than it seems to be and this emotional state causes other problems with health. “REBT is an active-directive form of psychotherapy in that therapists are active in directing their clients to identify the philosophical source of their psychological problems.” (Ellis, Dryden, 1997, p. 27) The role of the expert who decides whether the client behaves rationally or irrationally is given to the psychologist who also helps to direct the client’s emotions properly. The psychologist appears to be the teacher and the guide for his/her clients.
Another behavioral therapy is cognitive therapy which was developed by the American psychiatrist Aaron Beck in the 1960s. This method presupposes that a client should overcome difficulties in his or her emotive attitude towards a definite problem. “The goal of cognitive therapy is to relieve emotional distress and the other symptoms of depression.” (Beck, 1979, p. 35) As you can see, the attitude of a patient is the core of the problem, according to cognitive therapy. A patient can overcome the problem only by changing his/her mind towards the reaction to the problem. The means to treat the patient is to focus on mistakes in interpreting the events, their reasons, and consequences.
The main difference between rational emotive behavior therapy and cognitive therapy is that the first one is focused on philosophical ideas and helps the client to learn himself/herself, while the cognitive theory approach is aimed at searching for gaps and mistakes in the patient’s attitude towards a definite problem. The REBT expert guides the client and shows him or her about the mistakes, while the expert in cognitive therapy helps the patient to analyze the mistakes and gaps and to develop a different reaction. The REBT is more passive for the client; the client is passive and acquires knowledge about his/her mistakes from his/her instructor. Cognitive therapy involves the patient’s participation in analysis and criticism of the mistakes.
Conclusion
Cognition is one of the methods of struggle with depression and other mental abnormalities which was introduced by psychiatrists. This method presupposes the knowledge about possible reasons for the depression or specific reactions to definite events and ways it can be changed and treated. Cognitive behavior therapies have many features in common. The most obvious difference between the REBT and cognitive therapy lies in the participation of a client in the process of analysis of his or her mistakes in terms of perceiving and understanding the events and developing appropriate emotional reactions.
Reference
Beck, A. T. (1979). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. New York: Guilford Press.
Ellis, A., Dryden, W. (1997). The Practice of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. New York: Springer Publishing Company.