1. Week 7 – Core beliefs Dr. Paul Wong, D.Psyc.(Clinical)
SOWK6190/SOWK Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Intervention
Week 7 – Core beliefs
Dr. Paul Wong, D.Psyc.(Clinical)

2. Outline
Review of homework Recap of what we have learn This week’s agenda In-class activities Homework

3. Core beliefs
Key: Schemas are cognitive structures within the mind; the specific content of which are core beliefs. Core beliefs are usually global, overgeneralized, and absolute.

4. Schema-focused therapy

5. When to deal with core beliefs?
How strong their therapeutic alliance is?
How strongly the client believes the cognitive model?
How activated her core beliefs are in session?
How much insight she already has?
How concrete her thinking is?

6. What do you do?
Mentally hypothesizes from which category of core belief (helplessness or unlovability) specific automatic thoughts appear to have arisen.
Specifies the core belief using the same techniques he uses to identify the patient’s intermediate beliefs.
Presents his hypothesis about the core belief to the client, asking for confirmation, and refines the hypothesis.
Educate the client about core beliefs.
Evaluate and modify the core beliefs.

7. pp.169 Helpless – Being personally helpless
Not measuring up in terms of achievement
Unlovable -
Being unworthy
Not measuring up

8. Educating the client about core beliefs
That it is an idea, not necessarily a truth
Even ‘feel‘ it to be true, but have yet to be proven to be entirely true
Thus, it can be tested
It is rooted in childhood events
It continues to be maintained through the operation of her schemas, in which she readily recognizes data that support the core belief while ignoring or discounting data to the contrary.
That the client and the therapist working together can use a variety of strategies over time to change this idea so that she can view herself in a more realistic way.

9. Core Belief Worksheet Two parts:
The top part guides the patient to identify and rate her degree if belief in the old dysfunctional belief and in the new, more adaptive belief.
The bottom part is to be filled out by the client, both in session and for home work, as she monitors the operation of her beliefs and reframes evidence tat seemed to support the old belief.

10. Restructuring early memories
Be very cautious when you are using this! Let’s read pp carefully.

11. In class activity 1
Three choices:
Let me act as a client and we can re-run things we have learned so far or;
We can use a fake case as an example and we can re-run things we have learned so far, or;
We can watch a video of using CBT for children with anxiety