Outline the cognitive approach to psychopathology. (6 marks)
The cognitive approach to psychopathology suggests that irrational thoughts are the causes for abnormality. It is believed that if there is a change in the thinking then there will be a change in the mental illness and should be able to be cured.
Psychologists came to an agreement that how a human behaves is related to the way a computer works. For example; information is put into a computer (the input), it is then stored (storage), and we can then retrieve the information (retrieval), this is similar to the way a human works when they process information, this is an approach which shows an understanding to behaviour. The cognitive approach determines our attitudes towards things, expectations we have about things and the way we behave.
The approach says that abnormality is caused by faulty thinking. The way in which a person think reflects on whether they have normal or abnormal behaviour.
Using the SEL technique, outline and elaborate upon one strength and one weakness of the cognitive approach. (3 & 3 marks).
One positive of the cognitive approach is that it uses a more scientific method than the behaviour approach. It was also used through laboratory experiments. However, there is a major weakness it to the cognitive approach, this is that it does not do good at explaining the causes of disorders, this is due to it ignoring the possibility that some disorders are cause by biological factors instead, such as; brain damage.
The ideas above have led to the development of treatments. Explain what is involved in the treatment so that a client would know what to expect. (6 marks)
Cognitive therapy aim to reduce negative thoughts and replace them with more positive thinking. This is done by changing the attitude of a person, but by doing so you will need to change the behaviour, as the behaviour is what reinforces the faulty thinking. Treatment could involve a therapist creating measurable goals which challenge the clients’ beliefs to make them see their irrational behaviour, resulting in a change of thinking. For therapy to work in long term situations both thinking and behaviour need to change. This type of therapy has helped reduce delusion in schizophrenics and is the most widely used therapy.
Advise the client of the benefits and drawbacks of the treatment so that the client can decide whether or not to select it. (6 marks)
It is known to help delusions in schizophrenia, it is also the most widely used therapy by clinical psychologists. This type of therapy allows the client to be empowered by educations them in self-help startegies. Therefore it does not allow them to become completely dependent on the therapist. However, it does not address any understandings of what caused the problem in the first place.
psychology 