- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- 9.1 General issues
- 9.2 Clinical syndromes
- 9.3 Situations affecting child mental health
- 9.4 The child as witness
- 9.5 Treatment methods for children and adolescents
- 9.5.1 Counselling and psychotherapy for children
- 9.5.2 Psychodynamic child psychotherapy
- 9.5.3 Cognitive behaviour therapies for children and families
- 9.5.4 Caregiver-mediated interventions for children and families
- 9.5.5 Medication for children and adolescents: current issues
- 9.5.6 Residential care for social reasons
- 9.5.7 Organization of services for children and adolescents with mental health problems
- 9.5.8 The management of child and adolescent psychiatric emergencies
- 9.5.9 The child psychiatrist as consultant to schools and colleges
- Section 10 Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation)
- Section 11 Forensic Psychiatry
Cognitive behaviour therapies for children and families
- Chapter:
- Cognitive behaviour therapies for children and families
- Author(s):
Philip Graham
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0234
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is derived from both behavioural and cognitive theories. Using concepts such as operant conditioning and reinforcement, behavioural theories treat behaviour as explicable without recourse to description of mental activity. In contrast, mental activity is central to all concepts derived from cognitive psychology. Both sets of theories have been of value in explaining psychological disorders and, in the design of interventions they have proved an effective combination. Central to that part of cognitive theory that is relevant to CBT is the concept of ‘schemas’, first described in detail by Jean Piaget. A schema is a mental ‘structure for screening, coding, and evaluating impinging stimuli’. The origin of mental schemas lies in the pre-verbal phase when material is encoded in non-verbal images that, as the child's language develops, gradually become verbally labelled. They form part of a dynamic system interacting with an individual child's physiology, emotional functioning, and behaviour with their operation depending on the social context in which the child is living. There are similarities but also differences between schemas and related concepts in psychoanalysis, such as Freudian ‘complexes’ and Kleinian ‘positions’. Schemas can be seen as organized around anything in the child's world, especially objects, beliefs, or emotions. They develop from past experience. The processing of new information in relation to such schemas can usefully be seen as involving the evaluation of discrepancies between information that is received and information that is expected. If there is a discrepancy, (the information not corresponding with that expected), then during the coding process information may be distorted so that it no longer creates discomfort, or, more adaptively, it may be incorporated into a modified schema.
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- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- 9.1 General issues
- 9.2 Clinical syndromes
- 9.3 Situations affecting child mental health
- 9.4 The child as witness
- 9.5 Treatment methods for children and adolescents
- 9.5.1 Counselling and psychotherapy for children
- 9.5.2 Psychodynamic child psychotherapy
- 9.5.3 Cognitive behaviour therapies for children and families
- 9.5.4 Caregiver-mediated interventions for children and families
- 9.5.5 Medication for children and adolescents: current issues
- 9.5.6 Residential care for social reasons
- 9.5.7 Organization of services for children and adolescents with mental health problems
- 9.5.8 The management of child and adolescent psychiatric emergencies
- 9.5.9 The child psychiatrist as consultant to schools and colleges
- Section 10 Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation)
- Section 11 Forensic Psychiatry