About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about the second wave of cognitive and behavioural psychotherapies, focusing in particular on: (i) Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis as key figures in the development of cognitive therapies; (ii) Ellis’ ABC model, comprising of an activating event, beliefs and consequences; (iii) an example of this process wherein failing a driving test is the activating event, which can have dramatically differing consequences based on the beliefs born out of that event; (iv) the cognitive model of depression, which comprises of core schema and negative thoughts about the self, the world and the future; (v) selective abstraction and overgeneralisation as biases which can confirm core schema; (vi) the attempts that are made in CBT to review cognitive errors which might have led to negative thoughts, as well as looking at evidence relating to those thoughts; (vii) the behavioural element of CBT involving the recording of activities done and not done, adapting those activities which bring about positive mood, and avoiding activities less often; (viii) research which has found that the addition of the cognitive element of CBT over and above the behavioural element has little additional benefit for individuals with depression.

About the lecturer

Dr Helen Bolderston is a senior lecturer in psychology in the Department of Psychology at Bournemouth University. Dr Bolderston’s research interests lie in acceptance-based psychotherapies, processes implicated in the development and maintenance of mental health problems, and psychological wellbeing and burnout in health and social care students and professionals. Some of Dr Bolderston’s recent publications include 'Cognitive fusion as a candidate psychological vulnerability factor for psychosis: An experimental study of acute 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) intoxication' (2021) and 'Resilience and surgeons: train the individual or change the system?' (2020).