Psychology

Counseling, coaching and therapy have become a growing concern in the field of psychology.  They have contributed to the rehabilitation of distorted psychological conditions and maladaptive behavior currently faced by many individuals.  The growing demand for therapy has brought about various strategies and theories on the matter.  Some experts have relied and adhered to behavioral approach while some have advocated cognitive approach.  Behavioral and cognitive approaches are founded on different schools of thought.  Resulting studies on behavioral therapies are generally taken from experiments conducted on animals, whereas cognitive modes are based on scientific studies conducted on human beings which are the basic and sole concern of psychological therapies.  The former relates to behavior of an individual without regard to affect and cognition, on the other hand, the latter deals primarily on the individual as a thinking being.  With this basic difference, it is hereby postulated that cognitive therapy involves a separate field of study rooted on different concepts and strategies.

    Behavioral therapies are primarily founded by Ivan Pavlovs stimulus response and B.F. Skinners classical and operant conditioning among others.  In particular, these approaches relate to the behavioral aspects of human beings.  The target of the various therapeutic modes deal on changing present behavior of clients that would have an effect on the long term behavioral patterns.  They propose that behavioral tendencies shape an individuals thoughts, habits, emotions and other facets of personality which for instance may be learned through modeling (Selligman, 2006).  It is apparent that these theories discount on an individuals distinctive facet  cognition.  It can be implied from behavioral approaches the lack of control of an individual over hisher own behavioral tendencies, the basis of forming behavioral reaction mainly being brought about by external stimulus.

    In cognitive therapy, experts link individual behavior on cognition.  Thoughts and cognition influence the consequent reaction to a particular stimulus or event.  For instance, Albert Elli pointed out that reaction or behavior is influenced by individual perception on things, which perception is influenced by environmental events and happenings.  Thus, environmental events affect perception and perceptioncognition affect behavior.  This explains the differences in the reaction and perception of people on the same experience.  For instance, a child of tender age may have fun playing on fire and smoke, but the same scenario may elicit a different response on an adult.  The latter may relate the fire and smoke to huge fire caused on buildings and structures causing damage.  Thus, in distorted personalities, a person may panic in the mere sight of a small fire people make outside of their houses for outdoor cooking. 

On the other hand, Aaron Beck emphasized the interaction among core beliefs, automatic thoughts, emotions and behaviors (Beck, 1995).  Thus, behavior is not simply a product of a single facet of human personality (which is any event or experience as the stimulus) rather, it is an interaction of these various aspects namely, thoughts, cognition and affect.  As a consequence, cognitive approaches aim to correct distorted beliefs, emotions and perceptions that would consequently result in the alteration of behavioral responses. 
   
Common procedure in cognitive approaches is the utilization of the patients realization of thinking.  The client is subjected to activities that would elicit a thoughtful reaction which requires thinking of an abstract  thinking of thinking itself.  This is one way of forming an understanding that individual perception and consequently, individual behavior are affected by cognitive processes. 

Cognitive approaches emphasize the primacy of cognitions impact on human behavior and personality.  Consequently, the foundation of the study would require an understanding of cognitive processes, the role and activities of the human brain, the signals (stimulus) affecting the neurons and the resulting reactions of the brain transmitted to the different parts of the body that would elicit a particular reaction or behavior.  
   
While the same concept of reinforcements and punishments may be administered in the course of the therapeutic procedure, individual reaction is not solely looked at as simply a response, without more, but a product of the various interactions of the different facets of personality. 
   
Indeed, individual personalities are unique among people.  On the other hand, personality is affected by differences in experiences, perception, level of intelligence, environmental exposures and genetic compositions among others.  Linking this to maladaptive behaviors and personality disorders, it can be implicitly deduced that disorders are brought about by errors in any of the components of the personality.  Consequently, corrective rehabilitation would then aim at looking at the interaction of these elements including cognition.  In this case, the role of cognitive therapy plays an important role.  As a result, the study on cognitive therapy would deal on various aspects different from the subjects of behavioral therapy.  The study of these various aspects would consequently result in the resort of different theories and strategies in the course of the study.  In fact, cognitive therapy requires the clients to think in the abstract, to think about thinking and understanding to alter human behavior and reaction.