Anxiety disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a severe psychological complication that adversely affects one’s quality of life and daily routine. Various theories, including behavioral, humanistic, and cognitive approaches, have slightly different perspectives on the origins, treatment, and potential consequences of the illness. The current essay describes Jake’s case from the viewpoints of each individual approach and analyzes the present state of behavioral, humanistic, and cognitive traditions.
While the treatment of GAD generally includes both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, the essay focuses exclusively on psychological interventions. The behavioral approach implies that any change in the patient’s mental health is related to external stimuli, and the patient adjusts their behavior as a defensive mechanism reaction. In the current case, harder classes in the major were perceived as a threat by Jake, leading to the adoption of an ineffective coping strategy in the form of GAD.
The second theory – the humanistic approach – focuses on the communication between the psychotherapist and the individual to help the patient cope with mental health issues. According to the tradition, the origin of illness is of little relevance because the patient can overcome it on their own if they have a reliable person to talk to and share their concerns with. In other words, the psychotherapist acts as a close friend to the affected individual, proposing but never enforcing various solutions. It is a non-directive and non-invasive treatment that focuses on the patient as an individual with unique values, beliefs, and needs.
Lastly, the cognitive approach is the most science-oriented of the three, focusing precisely on people’s mental processes, such as memory, attention, and perception, in the human brain. Unlike the behavioral tradition, it attempts to understand the underlying causes and internal functions instead of their external representations. As a result, the cognitive approach would focus on the mental complications that emerged from harder classes as the origin of GAD in Jake’s case. Additionally, the treatment would help Jake change the perception of his studies, prioritize his internal processes, and shift attention to more positive and meaningful events in the patient’s life.
Consequently, it is crucial to note that each of the mentioned approaches is viable in the treatment of GAD. For instance, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which comprises the elements of both behavioral and cognitive theories, is one of the standards in psychotherapy. Moreover, prominent treatments, such as CBT, supportive psychotherapy, mindfulness, and psychodynamic therapy, utilize the characteristics of multiple approaches to maximize effectiveness. Another example is the commitment theory, which helps patients distance themselves from troubling thoughts through a process called cognitive diffusion. In particular, many of the mentioned approaches utilize behavioral elements for external stimuli and cognitive characteristics for internal processes to mitigate GAD. The humanistic approach is generally separated from the other two, but it is, nevertheless, a highly effective strategy in many cases, and psychologists recognize the benefits of each individual theory.
In conclusion, there are minor differences between the behavioral, humanistic, and cognitive approaches regarding the causes and conditions of mental health illnesses. However, experts admit that each of the traditions can be helpful, depending on the case, the severity of the problem, and the unique characteristics of the patient. In other words, the psychotherapist needs to carefully evaluate the affected individual and the causes of the disorder to propose the most effective treatment strategy.
References
Cherry, K. (2022). What is cognitive psychology? Very Well Mind. Web.
DeMartini, J., Patel, G., & Fancher, T. L. (2019). Generalized anxiety disorder. Annals of Internal Medicine, 170(7). Web.
Hamm, A. O. (2020). Fear, anxiety, and their disorders from the perspective of psychophysiology. Psychophysiology, 57(2), e13474. Web.
Peterson, T. J. (2021). Humanistic therapy: How it works, what is costs, & what to expect. Choosing Therapy. Web.
