Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for depression and anxiety

Cognitive behavioral therapy is based on the principle that problems are caused by unhelpful thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Thoughts can affect feelings which can affect behaviors and vice versa. Unhelpful thoughts and behaviors are learned and can therefore be unlearned and changed.

Change may involve:

• identifying cognitive distortions

• learning problem-solving skills

• identifying behavioral patterns that sustain the problems that may have brought someone to therapy

CBT involves homework in order to generalize the skills learned in session and expedite the change process. Change, such as improved self-esteem or ability to solve one’s own problems, happens through learning and practicing these new skills.

At Coastal Art Therapy Services, art therapy is used in combination with different types of cognitive behavioral therapy to achieve treatment goals. Some examples include:

• Cognitive Behavioral Art Therapy: Art therapy can be easily integrated with almost any treatment approach, increasing the opportunity for healing in therapy. “Art therapy is particularly suited to CBT because making art is a cognitive process that uses thinking, sensing, and identifying as well as understanding emotions” (Rosal, 2016).

• Mindfulness and Art Therapy: Mindfulness techniques have been used in conjunction with art therapy (Davis, 2015; Rappaport, 2014) to include breath work, being in the here and now, and focusing on the senses during art making. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Art Therapy (MBCAT) has been primarily used as an relapse prevention for individuals struggling with depression (Hick and Chan, 2010). The mindfulness component is informed by Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (Kabat-Zinn, 1990).

• Exposure Therapy via Art Therapy: Exposure therapy is when an individual is gradually exposed to objects, situations, thoughts, memories, or activities an individual fears. Exposure therapy can help abate symptoms of specific phobias, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, obsessions, compulsivity, and post-traumatic stress. Using art therapy as a vehicle for exposure has been shown to reduce symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents using an art therapy treatment intervention called the Chapman Art Therapy Treatment Intervention (CATTI) (Chapman, 2001; 2014).

References:

Chapman, L. (2014). Neurobiologically Informed Trauma Therapy with Children and Adolescents: Understanding Mechanisms of Change. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.

Chapman, L., Morabito, D., Ladakakos, C., Schreier, H., & Knudson, M. M. (2001). The effectiveness of art therapy interventions in reducing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in pediatric trauma patients. Art Therapy, 18(2), 100–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2001.10129750

Davis, B. J. (2015). Mindful art therapy: A foundation for practice. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: The program of the stress reduction clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Hick, S. & Chan, L. (2010) Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Effectiveness and Limitations, Social Work in Mental Health, 8:3, 225-237, DOI: 10.1080/15332980903405330

Rappaport, L. (2014). Mindfulness and the arts therapies: Theory and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Rosal, M. (2016). Cognitive-behavioral art therapy. In Approaches to art therapy (pp. 333-352). Routledge.