This is a type of therapy that was developed in the 1960’s by a gent called Aaron Beck and it has been developed even further through out the years since. It is a treatment usually used to treat people with depression or that suffer from conditions such as panic attacks or phobias. It works to help the patients recognise the triggers that start to make them feel the certain way they do when they feel depressed or start to have a panic attack. The main reason for the people needing therapy is that they can’t make the connection of their symptoms to the trigger that causes them in the first place, this is why having the opinion and views of an impartial person such as a therapist helps them recognise the causes and there fore take control of the situation if they begin to have these feelings.

This therapy is very different to many other talking therapies as it focuses on your state of mind at the moment rather than your previous state of mind and the symptoms you have had in the past. Below are some variations on cognitive therapy and different illnesses they can help relieve;

- Standard Cognitive Therapy – This is the most widely used therapy of the cognitive kind and is very effective it has proven to be just as effective if not more so than anti-depressants. It usually starts with you and your therapist agreeing the boundaries on how much you want to talk about past events, because although cognitive therapy focuses on your present state of mind you will sometimes need to talk through past experience to help explain why you feel the way you do at present. The main process followed in cognitive therapy is that they must first identify a situation where it immediately led to them feeling a strong emotion, after the situation has been identified they then need to describe the negative thoughts that were felt by them at that time, and finally they would have to explain exactly how they felt after the initial emotion. Once this process is complete it will help them realise that their feelings in a certain situation are unrealistic for example if a person was to take an exam and fail they would initially be disappointed that they failed then they have the feeling they needed to pass other wise they are worthless and finally this would lead to them feeling like they are not worth anything. The therapist would have to work with them to help them realise that just because they received a bad grade it doesn’t mean they automatically have to feel like a failure of course they will be disappointed but need not have such dramatic feelings of worthlessness.

- Group cognitive therapy – This is similar as the above therapy but is different in the way that they would not just focus on their own feelings they would be surrounded by people that have similar problems there fore showing them they are not alone in their feelings and need not feel they are the only ones feeling the way they do. This has proven very effective because the people are helping others talk through why they feel a certain way inevitably helps them work through their own problems and feelings.