The “B” in CBT
CBT: Why Our Behaviors Matter
CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. As the name suggests, it’s about how our cognitions (our thoughts) and behaviors (our actions) influence each other.
In this article we’ll be looking at Behavior.
A Brief History
In terms of historical development, the behavioral component of CBT was revolutionary in the field of therapy. Prior to the 1920s, most of the field was focused on what are called psychodynamic or psychoanalytical processes. This is a general concept that means focusing on the interplay between the conscious and unconscious aspects of our personality. In the beginning it largely focused on our childhood and how this shaped personality. This is still a major component of therapy today although the application is more broad then it was in the past. Starting in the 1920s, a new school of therapy was emerging called behaviorism.
The behavioralists focused on how they could influence human behavior on an unconscious level. Not by gaining meaningful insight but by reinforcement through consequences. They sought to study this concept by utilizing scientific principles and tools such observation, gathering dating systematically, and creating and conducting experiments. Many of the early behavioralists believed that they could predetermine most human behavior by training and shaping. Unfortunately, this led to some ethically dubious experiments where they applied their theories and research to infants and children. The most famous of these is John Watson and “Little Albert” where a young child is “conditioned” to be terrified of a white rabbit. Another famous behavioralist was B.F. Skinner. Skinner claimed that behavior was only shaped by it’s consequences. This school of thought became known as Radical Behaviorism where a person did not have free will or choice but was entirely determined by conditioning.
Of course, there are very few (if any) radical behaviorist today nonetheless they remain hugely influential and more importantly, they articulated some very useful principles on how we can influence our actions today. In fact, behavorist principles are applied in most aspects of our lives today. Modern advertising, Sports betting and gambling, and workplace culture are just a few examples of industries that are largely built off of the insights and findings of behaviorists.
Principles and Application of Behavior
To some (including myself) this is can be actually concerning. The idea that humans can be conditioned how or what to feel and thus influence our choices is uncomfortable (think mind control). For better or for worse, it does seem to work. There is a reason why companies have huge advertising budgets or why sports betting is so popular.
The good news is that we can also learn utilize this information to optimize and support our goals. This is where CBT comes into play.
CBT and Behaviors
In fact, most contemporary cognitive-behavioral based therapy believe that the fast way to change how we feel and how we think is through our actions. If we can begin to act differently then this leads to the fastest outcomes in how we feel. Unfortunately, it is also the most difficult aspect of change.
I’m not going to write a novel about this in this post but here are a few ideas about behavioral change and our emotions that I work towards with my clients.
-Motivation comes from decisive action, not the other way around. We act first, then we are motivated.
-Feelings follow actions if done repeatedly. Repetition is essential.
-Feelings can be present without dictating behavior. Just because I feel something does not be I have to act on it. Sometimes it is necessary to act against our feelings.
