Comprehensive Handbook of Cognitive Therapy

In reviewing the Contents of this Handbook edited by Freeman, Simon, Beutler, and Arkowitz, I am both impressed and gratified with the enormous strides made by cognitive­ behavior therapy since the late 1960s. A perusal of the Contents reveals that it is used with adults, children, couples, and families; it is clinically appropriate for such problems as anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunctions, and addictions; and it is employed in conjunction with psy­ chopharmacological and other psychotherapeutic interventions. It was in the mid-1960s when Breger and McGaugh published an article in the Psychological Bulletin, taking behavior therapists to task for using only classical and operant principles in devising their therapeutic interventions. Breger and McGaugh argued that the field of learning was undergoing a major revolution, paying considerably more attention to cognitive processes than had previously been the case. In short, they criticized the growing behavioral orientation for being limited in its exclusively peripheralistic orientation. At the time, behavior therapists were initially somewhat resistant to any allusion to cognitive metaphors. Indeed, my own initial reactions to the Breger and McGaugh article was quite negative. Yet, in rereading their critique, many of their suggestions now seem most appealing. No doubt, I and my behavior colleagues lacked the appropriate "cognitive set" for incorporating such contradictory information. Nonetheless, the clinical evidence for the rele­ vance of cognitive factors in the behavior change process was simply too compelling to ignore.

Table of Contents:
I. Theory and Research.- 1 The History of Cognition in Psychotherapy.- 2 Cognitive Therapy.- 3 The Measurement of Cognition in Psychopathology: Clinical and Research Applications.- 4 Process and Outcome in Cognitive Therapy.- 5 Cognitive Therapy and Cognitive Science.- 6 Constructs of the Mind in Mental Health and Psychotherapy.- 7 The Role of Cognitive Change in Psychotherapy.- 8 Cognitive, Behavioral, and Psychodynamic Therapies: Converging or Diverging Pathways to Change?.- 9 Experiential Therapy: Its Relation to Cognitive Therapy.- 10 Piagetian Theory and Cognitive Therapy.- 11 The Relativity of Reality: Second-Order Change in Psychotherapy.- 12 Thinking Postcognitively about Depression.- II. Clinical Applications of Cognitive Therapy.- 13 Cognitive Assessment.- 14 Combined Cognitive Therapy and Pharmacotherapy.- 15 Cognitive Restructuring through Guided Imagery: Lessons from Gestalt Therapy.- 16 Cognitive Therapy with the Adult Depressed Patient.- 17 The Treatment of Suicidal Behavior.- 18 Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety.- 19 Cognitive and Behavioral Approaches to the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa.- 20 Treatment of Obesity.- 21 Cognitive Therapy Applied to Personality Disorders.- 22 A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach to Sex Therapy.- 23 Psychotherapy for Chronic Pain: A Cognitive Approach.- 24 Cognitive Therapy with the Elderly.- 25 Cognitive-Behavioral Marital Therapy.- 26 Cognitive Therapy with Children.- 27 Enhancing Cognitive Therapy with Women.- 28 Cognitive Group Therapy.- 29 Cognitive Therapy with Inpatients.- Epilogue: Synthesis and Prospects for the Future.- About the Authors.