“What are the weaknesses of cognitive behavioral therapy?”

Hello Sir,
 
There is no one size fits all therapy. So, I would suggest you may want to read "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy" by Christine Wilding. It may give more insight about CBT and help you determine whether it will be beneficial and helpful in resolving problems that you may be experiencing. 
Take care and remain safe. 

Dr. Lata Sonpal

Overall I believe the benefit of cognitive behavioral health therapy is positive. But sometimes it's important to use focus solution therapy, where the client finds their own answers to their problems. CBT can present as if the therapist is coming up with the answer to help solve your problems. In focus solution therapy, the therapist asks you the questions to come up with your own solution. A good therapist asks the right questions, to get the client to come up with their own solutions to the problems. CBT appears to be more reliant on the power of the therapist and less about the client coming up with their own solutions to solve problems.

Well, here is an article, Four Drawbacks of Cognitive Therapy | Psychology Today:
<https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-justice-and-responsibility-league/200903/four-drawbacks-cognitive-therapy>

Hi,

Thank you for your question. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a short-term and highly effective treatment for many common issues, including depression and anxiety. CBT explores and helps to resolve negative automatic thoughts and underlying core beliefs about the self, other people, and the world using structured activities and specific interventions. CBT also involves behavioral activation and development of new coping skills. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of CBT:

Advantages of CBT

- Can be as effective as medication in treating some mental health disorders and may be helpful in cases where medication alone has not worked.
- Can be completed in a relatively short period of time compared to other talking therapies.
- Focuses on re-training your thoughts and altering your behaviors, in order to make changes to how you feel.
- The highly structured nature of CBT means it can be provided in different formats, including in groups, self-help books and computer programs.
- Skills you learn in CBT are useful, practical and helpful strategies that can be incorporated into everyday life to help you cope better with future stresses and difficulties, even after the treatment has finished.

Disadvantages of CBT

- To benefit from CBT, you need to commit yourself to the process. A therapist can help and advise you, but cannot make your problems go away without your cooperation.
- Attending regular CBT sessions and carrying out any extra work between sessions can take up a lot of your time.
- Due to the structured nature of CBT, it may not be suitable for people with more complex mental health needs or learning difficulties.
- As CBT can involve confronting your emotions and anxieties, you may experience initial periods where you are more anxious or emotionally uncomfortable.
- Some critics argue that because CBT only addresses current problems and focuses on specific issues, it does not address the possible underlying causes of mental health conditions, such as an unhappy childhood.
- CBT focuses on the individual’s capacity to change themselves (their thoughts, feelings and behaviors), and does not address wider problems in systems or families that often have a significant impact on an individual’s health and wellbeing.

I hope this has been helpful!

Best,

Jenna Torres, PsyD

Hello and thank you for your question,

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a well-researched intervention that is helpful for many mental health issues. One area where CBT is not recommended is with individuals experiencing cognitive deficits. CBT also focuses on a client's ability to take action to improve their mental health. Thought patterns are stressed and the client's ability and willingness to attempt to change rigid thoughts.

Thank you,

Patricia Harris | MA, MS, LPC

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy requires commitment from the client and therapist. It also requires the willingness to do homework

Your question is interesting. My doctoral and post doctoral training was excellent and it was all in cognitive behavioral therapy. That said, of course I understand that CBT is not the best course of treatment for all of my clients or for every disorder I treat. I would say that with any treatment, it needs to be the appropriate fit for both the individual as well for the disorder being treated for it to be effective and even then, the clinician needs to be flexible enough to allow for modifications as needed. I guess this is a very long way of saying that I don't think there are "weaknesses" per se to CBT, rather it's a matter of who who is delivering the CBT treatment and whether it is being done in a competent and qualified way. The timing of the CBT treatment needs to be appropriate; it would be premature if more time and focus should be taken on building the therapeutic alliance. And of course, CBT would not be appropriate if it wasn't the evidence-based treatment recommended for the issue being addressed.

CBT requires much effort and work from the client to produce changes the client may want. This in turn, can cause frustration or other negative emotions for the client. However, with the support and guidance of a therapist and committment from the client, CBT can be successful for the client.

Good question.

(1) CBT is only as good as the skill and wisdom of the therapist. It's a lot more complicated than simply negating a person's assumption and expecting them to put a new one in its place. (2) Like a parachute, minds only work well when they open properly and at the right time. Most humans are resistant to being educated about anything, especially if it calls for a change in understanding or point of view, especially if it calls for a change in actual behavior patterns, and even more especially if they haven't asked for it. (3) CBT often needs help from other techniques that are more effective a dialing back strong emotional reactions, often stemming from early (or not-so-early) trauma. (4) It is also less than effective in treating ongoing, active addiction patterns.
I hope this is helpful.

Some insight into your question can be found at this link:
http://www.thecbtclinic.com/pros-cons-of-cbt-therapy