Modification of Core Beliefs in Cognitive Therapy

As has been seen in this volume thus far, a great deal of work in cognitive therapy is geared toward the identification, evaluation, and modification of situational thoughts (i.e., automatic thoughts) that patients experience on particular occasions and that are associated with an increase in an aversive mood state. Although they usually obtain significant relief from their mood disturbance using this cognitive restructuring process, many patients who focus only on these situational cognitions find that they continue to experience the same thoughts, over and over again, even if they have increased their ability to cope with them. One explanation for this is that these patients continue to hold unhelpful core beliefs, which facilitate the activation of these situational thoughts.