The contemporary appeal of cognitive behaviour therapy

Abstract

With the approach of the 21st century, revolutionary developments in communication as well as the commonplace use of computers encouraged enquiry into all aspects of our world including the scientific basis for matters affecting health and wellbeing. Not surprisingly, the more popular psychotherapies, sensitive to these social and economic changes in our society and to theoretical developments in psychology, have evolved into more empirically based solution-oriented interventions that have become focused on addressing the more immediate cognitive, emotional and behavioural needs of people. As a result, far less emphasis is now placed, for instance, on force-fitting clients to the doctrines of the rigid pressure-driven hydraulic model of classical psychoanalysis and more towards approaches such as cognitive behaviour therapy that allow for flexibility in their application and direct responsiveness to client distress.