Learning Cognitive-Behavior Therapy: An Illustrated Guide [With DVD]

I purchased this book as well as two others (Handbook of Cognitive Behavior Therapies, Cognitive Therapy: Basics and Beyond)for a comparative paper for grad school. Out of all three, this one had the most information, and I cited it multiple times throughout my paper. Highly recommended for students who need to know the basics of how CBT works, as far as history, important figures, actual therapeutic techniques, etc.

This book provides an excellent primer or a great refresher in the concepts, theory, and practice of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT). It presents CBT and many of its crucial elements in a straight-forward, easy to read fashion, and includes short video vignettes (DVD included) and practice exercizes for the reader throughout many of the book's chapters. This is a great value for those looking to learn CBT for the first time as well as those looking to get back to basics and assess/enhance their own CBT skills. Book includes link to downloadable CBT forms (and cbt skills self-assessment materials).

The book is easy to read and gives actual examples that can be used in a therpeutic setting. The DVD has real life situations and examples that are easily tranferrable to counseling sessions. The DVD looks like an office and people in a previous decade, but skills are still up to date.

It has often been said that psychotherapy is both art and science. Research over the last 40 years has demonstrated the scientific basis for Cognitive Therapy. However, it is one thing to read about an approach to therapy and another to learn how to do it. Learning Cognitive-Behavior Therapy: An Illustrated Guide provides the reader and clinician with the best of both worlds. Not only will the reader find in the book the basic concepts and techniques of CT, the accompanying DVD will demonstrate how to administer these interventions. This book is a must for anyone who is serious about using Cognitive Therapy in their clinical setting. It is also a useful resource for academics that are looking for a resource to illustrate this approach to therapy.

While researching literature for an article in the Library of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (Pittsburgh, PA), I have noticed the book in question on the library's display shelf for new releases. I opened the book at random and stumbled upon a handful of effectively presented tables and charts (a list of healthy and dysfunctional schemas, tips for using behavioral activation, etc.). I checked the book out. The book serves equally well as a primer for a CBT trainee or as a refresher course for a CBT practitioner. In reading the book, I have reminisced about my first doctoral practicum in CBT tx of anxiety and depression (a few years back, in the 20th century!) and wished my learning of cognitive-behavior therapy had been accompanied by readings from "Learning Cognitive-Behavior Therapy" by Wright, Busco and Thase. Having read about a dozen books on CBT, I place this book in the top three in terms of immediate clinical utility. The book wastes no time to organize various pieces of CBT paradigm. Case in point is page 7: the book begins with placing automatic thoughts and schemas in the context of levels of cognitive processing. The book continues with similarly effective organization, laconic case vignettes, and exercises. The book comes with a DVD which I have not had a chance to review but, I am confident (based on my prior exposure to one of the author's computer-assisted multimedia program) is of good quality as well. To think, "It's just another book on CBT" would be a cognitive error. Pavel Somov, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist Pittsburgh, PA Co-Author of "The Recovery Equation: Motivational Enhancement/Choice Awareness/Use Prevention, an Innovative Clinical Curriculum for Substance Use Treatment" [email protected]