Applying Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on patterns of thinking, with decreased attention on patterns of behavior and emotional components of relationships. Researchers have given an enormous amount of attention to CBT and its application to a variety of individual mental health concerns, but they also have appropriated it for working with couples and, more recently, with families. Many systems purists argue that CBT is an individual-oriented theory that lacks systemic concepts necessary to conceptualize family or couple issues. In the end, you will have to make the decision as a marriage, couple, and family counselor as to whether CBT can address the relational demands of clinical work with couples and families.

Choose one video from this week’s Learning Resources to review. As you begin to formulate a theory-based treatment plan, consider how you would maintain focus on the cognitive-behavioral realm of the couples and/or families, yet attend to the emotional dynamics present in the video.

The assignment (2–3 pages)

Based on the theory demonstrated in the video you chose (cognitive-behavioral therapy with either a couple or family):

Define the problem.
Formulate a treatment plan including short- and long-term goals.
Describe two theory-based interventions you would use and justify your selection.
Explain one anticipated outcome of each.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.

Learning Resources

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning Resources. To view this week’s embedded media resources, please use the streaming media players below.

Required Resources

Media

Note: To access this week’s required library videos, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

CBT:

Video: Allyn & Bacon. (Publisher). (2002). Cognitive-behavioral child therapy [Motion picture]. [With Bruce Masek]. United States: Psychotherapy.net. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Video: Allyn & Bacon. (Publisher). (2000). Couples therapy for addictions: A cognitive-behavioral approach [Motion picture]. [With Barbara McCrady]. United States: Psychotherapy.net. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Gottman:

Video: Gottman, J. M., & Gottman, J. S. (Producers). (2009). Gottman couples therapy: A new research-based approach: Our research methods. United States: The Gottman Institute.Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 10 minutes.Accessible player –Downloads–Download Transcript
Video: Gottman, J. M., & Gottman, J. S. (Producers). (2009). Gottman couples therapy: A new research-based approach: Our research methods: The sound relationship house. United States: The Gottman Institute.Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 29 minutes.Accessible player –Downloads–Download Transcript

Readings

Course Text: Gurman, A. S., Lebow, J. L., & Snyder, D. (2015). Clinical handbook of couple therapy (5th ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Chapter 2, “Cognitive-Behavioral Couple Therapy”
Chapter 5, “Gottman Method Couple Therapy”
Course Text: Theory-Based Treatment Planning for Marriage and Family Therapists
Chapter 9, “Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy”
Article: Driver, J. L., & Gottman, J. M. (2004). Daily marital interactions and positive affect during marital conflict among newlywed couples. Family Process, 43(3), 301–314. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Article: Gottman, J. M., & Driver, J. L. (2005). Dysfunctional marital conflict and everyday marital interaction. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 43(3/4), 63–77. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Article: Smith, G. B., & Schwebel, A. I. (1995). Using a cognitive-behavioral family model in conjunction with systems and behavioral family therapy models. American Journal of FamilyTherapy, 23(3), 203–212. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Handout

Gottman Method Couple Therapy

Optional Resources

Readings

Book: Bitter, J. R., Long, L. L., & Young, M.E. (2010). Introduction to marriage, couple, and family counseling. Mason, OH: Cengage.
Chapter 13, “Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy”
Book: Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (1999). The seven principles for making marriage work. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
Book: Gottman, J. S. (Ed.). (2004). The marriage clinic casebook. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co.ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)
Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation
Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality
Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes
I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy
For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy
The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication
Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.