Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-30T06:25:46.068Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What works in the Socratic debate? An analysis of verbal behaviour interaction during cognitive restructuring

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2020

Rebeca Pardo-Cebrián ,
Ana Calero-Elvira Open the ORCID record for Ana Calero-Elvira [Opens in a new window] ,
M. Cristina Guerrero-Escagedo Open the ORCID record for M. Cristina Guerrero-Escagedo [Opens in a new window]  and
Aída López-Gómez
Rebeca Pardo-Cebrián
Affiliation:
Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Ana Calero-Elvira*
Affiliation:
Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
M. Cristina Guerrero-Escagedo
Affiliation:
Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Aída López-Gómez
Affiliation:
Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. Email: ana.calero@uam.es
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Cognitive restructuring is one of the most complex application procedures in psychotherapy. It is widely used by psychologists from different orientations. However, the guidelines on how to apply it do not usually have empirical evidence and there is a lack of knowledge about the mechanisms of change that explain it.

Aims:

The analysis of verbalizations that therapists emit during the Socratic method could help to better understand the functioning and strategies of effective debates.

Method:

In this study, specific verbal interaction sequences were analysed using observational methodology. The sample consisted of 113 Socratic questioning fragments belonging to 18 clinical cases, treated by behavioural therapists.

Results:

Among other findings, it was found that using questioning together with certain previous verbalizations directed the client’s response more effectively and those successful debates were characterized by using the aversive component in a frequent and contingent way.

Conclusion:

This study shows the most effective way to establish such an interaction in the Socratic method (following a style closer to Ellis’s argumentative debate), which entails relevant practical applications in therapy.

Keywords

cognitive restructuringeffectivenessSocratic methodverbal behaviourverbal interaction
Type
Empirically Grounded Clinical Interventions
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 49 , Issue 5 , September 2021 , pp. 513 - 525
Copyright
© British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychological Association (2003). PracticeNet Survey: Clinical Practice Patterns. http://www.apa.org/clinicalpractice-patterns-summer-2003-presentation Google Scholar
Bados, A., & García, E. (2010). La técnica de reestructuración cognitiva [Cognitive restructuring technique]. http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/bitstream/2445/12302/1/Reestructuraci%C3%B3n.pdf Google Scholar
Bakeman, R. (2000). Behavioural observation and coding. In Reis, H. T. & Judd, C. M. (eds), Handbook of Research Methods in Social and Personality Psychology (pp. 138–159). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bakeman, R., & Quera, V. (1995). Analyzing Interaction: Sequential Analysis with SDIS and GSEQ. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive Therapy of Depression. Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Braun, J. D., Strunk, D. R., Sasso, K. E., & Cooper, A. A. (2015). Therapist use of Socratic questioning predicts session-to-session symptom change in cognitive therapy for depression. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 70, 32–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2015.05.004 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calero-Elvira, A. (2009). Análisis de la interacción entre terapeuta y cliente durante la aplicación de la técnica de reestructuración cognitiva. [Analysis of interaction between therapist and client during the application of cognitive restructuring technique]. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.Google Scholar
Calero-Elvira, A., Froján-Parga, M. X., Ruiz-Sancho, E. M., & Alpañés-Freitag, M. (2013). Descriptive study of the Socratic method: evidence for verbal shaping. Behavior Therapy, 44, 625–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2013.08.001 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calero-Elvira, A., Froján-Parga, M. X., Ruiz-Sancho, E. M., & Vargas-de la Cruz, I. (2011). ¿Qué hace el psicólogo cuando aplica la técnica de reestructuración cognitiva? [What does the psychologist do when applying the cognitive restructuring technique?] Revista Mexicana de Psicología, 28, 133–150.Google Scholar
Carey, T. A., & Mullan, R. J. (2004). What is Socratic questioning? Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 41, 217–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-3204.41.3.217 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, J. K., Andrews, L. A., Witcraft, S. M., Powers, M. B., Smits, J. A. J., & Hofmann, S. G. (2018). Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and related disorders: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. Depression and Anxiety, 35, 502–514. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22728 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carrasco, T., & Pardo, R. (2018). El análisis y modificación del lenguaje en contextos aplicados [Language analysis and modification in applied contexts]. Symposium presentation, October 2018, XI Congreso internacional y XVI Nacional de Psicología clínica, Granada, Spain. http://www.aepc.es/PsClinicaXI/LIBRO_ACTAS_PS_CLINICA_XI.pdf Google Scholar
Clark, D. A. (2013). Cognitive restructuring. In Hofmann, S. G. (ed), The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (pp. 1–22). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118528563.wbcbt02 Google Scholar
Clark, G. I., & Egan, S. J. (2015). The Socratic method in cognitive behavioural therapy: a narrative review. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 39, 863–879. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9707-3 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Pascual Verdú, R., & Trujillo Sánchez, C. (2018). A study of the relation between motivational utterances and instruction compliance in psychological therapy. Revista Clínica Contemporánea, 9, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.5093/cc2018a11 Google Scholar
DeRubeis, R. J., Hollon, S. D., Amsterdam, J. D., Shelton, R. C., Young, P. R., Salomon, R. M., O’Reardon, J. P., Lovett, M. L., Gladis, M. M., Brown, L. L., & Gallop, R. (2005). Cognitive therapy vs medications in the treatment of moderate to severe depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 409–416. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.4.409 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, A., & Grieger, R. (1977). Handbook of Rational-Emotive Therapy. Springer Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Farmer, C. C., Mitchell, K. S., Parker-Guilbert, K., & Galovski, T. E. (2017). Fidelity to the cognitive processing therapy protocol: Evaluation of critical elements. Behavior Therapy, 48, 195–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2016.02.009 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Froján-Parga, M. X., Calero-Elvira, A. & Montaño-Fidalgo, M. (2011). Study of the Socratic method during cognitive restructuring. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 18, 110–123. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.676 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Froján-Parga, M. X., Calero-Elvira, A., Pardo-Cebrián, R., & Nuñez de Prado-Gordillo, M. (2018). Verbal change and cognitive change: conceptual and methodological analysis for the study of cognitive restructuring using the Socratic dialog. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 11, 200–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41811-018-0019-8 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Froján-Parga, M. X., Montaño-Fidalgo, M., & Calero-Elvira, A. (2010). Therapists’ verbal behavior analysis: a descriptive approach to psychotherapeutic phenomenon. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 13, 914–926. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1138741600002560 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, I. A., & Morse, R. (2007). The use of questions in cognitive behavior therapy: identification of question type, function and structure. Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 35, 507–511. https://doi.org/10.1017/s135246580700375x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kazantzis, N., Fairburn, C. G., Padesky, C. A., Reinecke, M., & Teesson, M. (2014). Unresolved issues regarding the research and practice of cognitive behavior therapy: the case of guided discovery using Socratic questioning. Behaviour Change, 31, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/bec.2013.29 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladouceur, R., Dugas, M. J., Freeston, M. H., Léger, E., Gagnon, F., & Thibodeau, N. (2000). Efficacy of cognitive-behavioral treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: evaluation in a controlled clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 957–964. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006x.68.6.957 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1997). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33, 159–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchena-Giráldez, C., Calero-Elvira, A., & Galván-Domínguez, N. (2013). La importancia de las instrucciones del psicólogo para favorecer la adhesión terapéutica. [The importance of psychologist’s instructions for the improvement of therapeutic adherence]. Clínica y Salud, 24, 55–65. https://doi.org/10.5093/cl2013a7 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Donohue, W. T., & Fisher, J. E. (2012). Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Core Principles for Practice. John Wiley & Sons.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pardo-Cebrián, R., & Calero-Elvira, A. (2017). Applying cognitive restructuring in therapy: the clinical reality in Spain. Psychotherapy Research, 29, 198–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2017.1341655 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pereira, G. L., Hernández, A. R., de Pascual-Verdú, R., & Froxán-Parga, M. X. (2019). Los procesos de condicionamiento clásico en la interacción verbal terapéutica. [Classical conditioning processes in therapeutic verbal interaction]. Revista Mexicana de Análisis de La Conducta, 45, 90–110. https://doi.org/10.5514/rmac.v45.i1.70870 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pérez Fernández, V. J., Gutiérrez Domínguez, M. J., García García, A., & Gómez Bujedo, J. (2010). Procesos psicológicos básicos: un análisis funcional [Basic psychological processes: a functional analysis]. Universidad Nacional de Educación a distancia: Madrid.Google Scholar
Quera, V. (1997). Los métodos observacionales en la Etología [Observational methods in Ethology]. In Peláez, F. & Veá, J. (eds), Etología: Bases biológicas de la conducta animal y humana [Ethology: Biological basis of animal and human behavior] (pp. 43–83). Pirámide.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Pardo-Cebrián et al. Supplementary Materials

Pardo-Cebrián et al. Supplementary Materials

Download Pardo-Cebrián et al. Supplementary Materials(File)
File 15.8 KB
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.