7 Habits of Highly Effective CBT Therapists:
By: Meir Stolear (2010)
Introduction:
Stephen R. Covey
(1989) Model for 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
Definition: Habits are made from the interaction of three
elements, which are: knowledge, skills and desires.
Knowledge (i.e. theoretical paradigm, model) - what is to be
done and why.
Skills (i.e. practical abilities) - how to do it.
Desires (not to be confused with demands) - want to do it.
* Effective habits
are internalised core beliefs (personal principles)
combined with patterns of behaviour.
* Effectiveness: An aim to maximise one's long-term benefit, personal
empowerment, effective problem solving, maximising opportunities, learning, and
the ability to integrate ideas and principles.
* The Maturity factor: Effective habits improve with lifetime experiences
(i.e. maturity). In our lives we are progressively moving ourselves from dependency
(need to be looked after) to independence (me, me, me; the importance of
being me) and finally into interdependence (team work).
* Factors that are
needed for mature effective habits are: awareness of ecological, social, biological and other factors, that
interact and govern life on earth (knowledge). Learnt new skills (time)
and rational drive to what can be achieved (not to be confused with what must
be achieved; irrational).
Effective habits
framework:
Habit 1: proactive self-awareness, imagination, conscience and
independent will;
Habit 2: goal setting;
Habit 3: organisation and prioritising.
These habits aim to move
the person from dependency to independence, from self-mastery to character
growth.
Habit 4: win-win;
Habit 5: understand and be understood;
Habit 6: synergy, habits integration.
These habits aim to help
the person to move out of the independent state into creating the foundation
for interdependence (i.e. team work).
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw, Renewal.
This habit is about
preserving and renewing your assets in four dimensions, which are: physical
state, social and emotional state, spiritual state and mental state
7 Habits of Highly Effective CBT/REBT Therapists;
Putting Covey model into practice.
Effective Habit 1): Become self-aware. REBT theory
teaches us that we are complex human beings. We are not our moods, our
behaviour, our professions, etc., but are what we believe we are. Our
self-beliefs will guide our moods and actions accordingly. We have the freedom
to choose what kind of therapist we wish to become (better later than never).
We aim to be emotionally and behaviourally responsible about our roles as CBT
therapists. We do not blame our clients for the failures of our work with them,
nor assume that the success of our work was only thanks to us. We learn to act
as independent effective CBT therapists by understanding our strengths and
weaknesses.
Effective Habit 2): Goal setting. Create rational goals
to achieve, as effective CBT therapists. Have your goals in the forefront of
your mind and ask no one to do it for you (help is welcome). Consider the
entirety of factors that could help you to achieve your goals and work out what
could block your goals. Start acting as soon as you are clear about what you
are aiming for.
Effective Habit 3): Organisation and action. Set an independent
and rational timetable for training, work experiences and supervision. Work
with one CBT model long enough for you to become an expert before aiming to
learn other modalities.
Effective Habit 4): Win-Win. Create an organisation and
priority in the way you manage your career. Your clinical, administration and
learning (including supervision) hours need to be well balanced to avoid
unhealthy stress or other unhealthy negative emotions that can block your
professional goals.
Effective Habit 5): Understand other people and be understood by
other people. Formulating your client’s problems is an effective
therapeutic tool, aiming to help you and your client to find solutions to the
client's problems. However, if you have failed to understand the client
correctly and not modified your formulation accordingly, your work with your
client may have no real therapeutic effect. Doing formulation is team work and
is to be done over the duration of the therapy, not only in the first few
sessions. Moreover, to be an effective therapist the client needs to understand
you. Therefore, it is better to avoid technical language and be in tune with
your client's language and intellect.
Effective Habit 6): Synergy, habits integration. Here you
are aiming at working together with your client as a team, for the common
therapeutic goals. Here you are using all your first five habits together, as
needed. As and when you are meeting a new client, you are most likely to
experience a low level of trust in yourself and in your client. Your aims are
to gain your client's trust and to learn to trust him/her (good use of
supervision can help with this). The success level of your work with your
clients is heavily dependent on two factors, and these are: trust and co-operation.
Your teamwork success with your clients can be carefully monitored (again by
using your supervision well). In order to do this you need to identify three
stages in your therapeutic alliances, which are: stage 1) defensive (learning
to know one another); 2) respectful (learning to compromise); and 3) synergistic
(achieving the therapeutic goals together).
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