Challenging irrational beliefs
An important principle in CBT is the idea that people feel bad (depressed, anxious, fearful) because of the way they perceive or define the situation they are in.
For example, a person who believes that "It is essential that everyone loves me" is likely to get upset if they get into conflict with a friend. A more rational and functional belief would be "I enjoy being liked by other people but know that if I live up to my own values there will be times when some people may disagree with me..."
CBT counsellors try to help the person to identify the irrational beliefs that are causing problems in their life, and then gently challenge these beliefs in a way that allows the person to develop an alternative, less polarised or extreme way of seeing things.
The concept of irrational beliefs was originally formulated by the founder of Rational Emotive Therapy, Albert Ellis, one of the key figures in the development of CBT.
Learning exercise
Using either material in An Introduction to Counselling, or from one of the websites listed below, identify one irrational belief that plays a role within your own life. Explore the way that this belief has an impact on your life, by making a list of the situations in which this belief is activated (the antecedents), and the consequences of the belief, in terms of emotions and behaviour that follow. Once you have done this, reflect on how you could challenge this belief yourself, and also how you could recruit friends, family members and colleagues to challenge it when they observe its appearance.
A list of irrational beliefs:
http://www.lakeshore-counseling.com/irration.htm
Websites that provide information on challenging irrational beliefs model:
http://www.coping.org/growth/beliefs.htm
http://drednottingham.com/pdf/Disputation.pdf
Irrational beliefs, and related concepts within CBT, are discussed on pages 136-8 of An Introduction to Counselling, 3rd edition.