Emoción y cognición: Implicaciones para el tratamiento

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to clarify the term "Emotion" and analyze to what extent cognitions are central in its understanding. For this reason, a review of studies related to emotion from biological and cognitive perspectives was made. From our point of view, there is some confusion in the use of this construct. On the one hand, there is no universally accepted definition by theorists working in this field. On the other hand, people often mention feeling "emotionated" referring to completely different life situations. Thus, a review of the classification of emotions also was done and it concludes by emphasizing the implications of all this in a therapeutic setting, as the mastery of these issues could help to select, at any given time, the more efficient therapy modality (i.e. exposure versus cognitive therapy). Finally, it is also proposed the importance of "Psychoeducation" focused on the mechanisms of anxiety response and its relationship with cognitions as a cognitive technique. Copyright 2009 by Sociedad Chilena de Psicología Clínica.