Cognitive Approach: Strengths And Weaknesses

(Q1) Using the cognitive approach on myself was very interesting and I would definitely say it was useful. The main reason I enjoyed this exercise is that it helped me clearly see the positive part of my situation, while I was fixated on that one negative thought. Being a person that looks to facts to support arguments, another reason the cognitive approach worked well for me is that it gave me evidence to prove against my maladaptive thought. (Q4) Similar to other approaches, the cognitive approach does have its strengths and weaknesses. One strength that the cognitive approach has is that it is very practical and clear. Cognitive counselors work had to help clients express their goals in specific terms. In fact, the counselor usually tries to operationalize the client’s goals to make sure they are reachable. Moreover, the main weakness with this approach is that you cannot directly observe these maladaptive cognitive processes that an individual is …show more content…
An example of when this approach would be most helpful is in social anxiety. When a client is having a negative thought about a social situation, the counselor can give the client proper tools to change this thought pattern. In order for the client can have a healthy response and be less anxious. Although this approach is currently quite popular, there are situation when the cognitive approach is less helpful. This approach would be less helpful if the client is looking to focus on talking about their past. The reason being is that the cognitive approach really focuses on how your current thoughts and behaviors are affecting you now. In addition, I realized that it is very important to understand that this approach does not assume that a client’s issue is irrational and that it will be corrected by persuasion. Rather the client and counselor work together to understand the underlying assumptions that are causing the