Question

Several years after his wife's death, Mr. Sanchez remains incapacitated by feelings of guilt and sadness. To reduce Mr. Sanchez's depression, a therapist is actively encouraging him to stop blaming himself for his inability to prevent his wife's death. The therapist's approach is most representative of:a) systematic desensitization.b) psychoanalysis.c) client-centered therapy.d) cognitive therapy.

Answer 1

Answer:

d) Cognitive therapy

Explanation:

Cognitive therapy is a kind of psychotherapy that focuses in the present (rather than in the past as would be done in psychoanalysis).

One of the main concepts of this therapy is that what makes us have emotional issues is our thoughts or interpretations about situations that happened to us. So the therapy focuses on how you are thinking and behaving today.

A cognitive therapist would believe that by identifying specific distortions and biases in the patient's thinking and changing those thoughts and biases, the experience of the person would change and he/she would start feeling better.

In the example, Mr. Sanchez has depression years after his wife's death because he blames himself for his inability to prevent his wife's death. The therapist is focusing on how this thinking and distorted perception (bias) is affecting Mr. Sanchez and is working to change it.

Thus, this is an example of d) cognitive therapy.