Belief Modification in Cognitive Therapy

Abstract

One of the central assumptions of cognitive therapy is that psychological disorders are caused, at least in part, by dysfunctional beliefs. One of the goals of therapy is therefore to modify these beliefs or to replace them by more adaptive ones. Among other treatments, this cognitive strategy has proved clinically successful in a number of cases. The efficacy of belief modification in cognitive therapy raises a number of theoretical and conceptual issues for behavior analysis. I discuss some of the attending difficulties and suggest a possible way out.