A COU101 Essay: CBT Application for Tom's Anxiety and Alcohol Abuse

This essay delves into the application of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in treating a case study involving Tom, a 25-year-old individual grappling with anxiety, stress, and alcohol abuse, stemming from a history of sexual assault. The essay begins with an introduction to CBT, emphasizing its goal-oriented approach in altering negative thought patterns and behaviors. It then outlines the historical development of CBT, tracing its roots back to behaviorism and the contributions of figures like Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck. The core of the essay focuses on applying CBT techniques to Tom's situation, addressing his anxiety and alcohol consumption. It details the identification of negative thoughts, techniques to evaluate and challenge these thoughts, and the implementation of functional analysis and skill training. The essay also highlights Tom's strength of willpower and provides suggestions for behavioral changes and continued therapy. The essay concludes by summarizing the CBT approach and the strategies used to help Tom overcome his challenges. The assignment is based on the COU101 course and is a written individual essay incorporating a case study and a counselling theory.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The term Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) refers to a short term, goal oriented
treatment for psychotherapy that takes a practical and hands on approach to problem solving.
The chief goal of this treatment is to change the thought pattern as well as behaviours of the
patient which are the reasons behind the difficulties of the clients and thus change the way they
feel (Johnson et al., 2017). In the case of Tom, he has been suffering from anxiety, stress along
with alcohol abuse for which CBT will be appropriate for him. Research has shown it to be
effective in the treatment of panic disorder, phobias, social anxiety disorder, and generalized
anxiety disorder, along with other conditions. CBT addresses negative patterns as well as
distortions in the way we look at the world and ourselves.
The evolution of CBT can be traced back to the development in psychology in the year
1913. Behaviourist John B. Watson's research had laid the groundwork for subsequent field
development. There was a technique called behaviour therapy before cognitive behavioural
therapy that at the time of its introduction became controversial (Wolitzky-Taylor et al., 2018).
Extinction, habituations, and counter conditioning have all been discovered with conditioning of
the respondent. In the 1950s, Moral Emotive Behaviour Therapy was studied by Albert Ellis.
The goal was to help patients identify their irrational thoughts. The practice of CBT was first
developed in the 1960s. A stronger psychological problem was clarified by the theories of Beck's
cognitive distortions and Dr. Albert Ellis ' theory of irrational thinking.
CBT is generally used for treating a wide range of issues associated with the personal life
of an individual from sleeping difficulties, relationship issues as well as drug and alcohol abuse
along with anxiety and depression. The mentioned theory works by changing the attitude of the
individual along with their behaviour by focusing on the images thoughts, beliefs as well as

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attitudes that are helped and how these process are associated with the behaviour of an individual
along with their ways of dealing with emotional issues.
Considering the fact That CBT is a communication oriented therapy, it helps the
counsellor to recognize the thought process of the patient and thereby understand the thoughts
that are affecting the patient’s feelings as well as behaviour. CBT helps the counsellor to counsel
the patent by using the combination of the cognitive approach that includes examining the
thoughts of the patent with behaviour approach that is, the things that are performed by the
patient (Wolitzky et al., 2018). Considering the fact that excessive stress and anxiety have led
Tom to sexually abuse of women along with alcohol abuse, CBT can be considered to be best
theory for Toms behavioural issue.
In this section of the essay, a detailed discussion of the ethical or legal issues associated
with Tom’s behaviour that needs to be considered, has been discussed. One of the chief
behaviour of Tom that has already imposed impact on both his professional as well as personal
life is his act of sexually assaulting a woman. After getting discharged from the Army and since
the time he has began drinking, Tom has been charged since he had performed sexual assault on
a young woman and as a result of this have already served a short sentence. Considering the fact
that tom is only 25 years old, past history of being a sexual assaulter will make it difficult for
him to obtain jobs. Not only this, in case he is unable to check this behavioral issue of his, he
may be subjected to loner imprisonment that possesses the potentiality to ruin his future. Along
with his professional life, the action of Tom will impose negative impact on his personal life as
well. High risk of having trust issue with his partner is there. not only this, lack of
acknowledgement from society can enhance his anxiety and stress.

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Considering the fact that Tom has been abstemious for a prolonged 55 days as well as is
currently seeking strategies for coping with his anxiety that did not involve drinking, this can be
consider to be a positive approach towards eliminating his physiological issue. In this section,
CBT techniques that will be applied on Tom to help him completely eliminate the habit of
alcohol consumption during stress and anxiety will be discussed (Marker & Norton, 2018). It is
clear that the classic conditioning factor for Tom that is the event that triggers his craving for
alcohol is anxiety and stress. This, in order to minimize and eventually eradicate alcohol
consumption, it is crucial for tom to eradicate his anxiety disorder. The first step that needs to be
taken by the counselor is to identify the negative thoughts faced by Tom when he feels stressed
or anxious. According to researchers, when an individual suffers from anxiety disorders, they
perceived situation as more dangerous than they really are. In order to identify the negative
thoughts of counselor can conduct a motivational interview session that will help him to
understanding the factors that trigger anxiety and eventually the urge of consuming alcohol in
him.
The second step that will be adopted by the counselor is to teach him techniques of
evaluate his own thoughts that provokes anxiety. This will include questioning the evidence for
the frightening thoughts of Tom, analysing unhelpful beliefs as well as testing out the reality of
negative predictions (Carpenter et al., 2018). Strategies for challenging negative thoughts will
include conducting experiments, weighing the pros as well as the cons of worrying or avoiding
the things he fear, and determining the realistic chances that what he is anxious about will
actually happen.

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The third step of dealing with the issue of Tom’s anxiety issue includes replacing his
negative thought with realistic ones. in this step, therapist will help Tom to come up with
realistic and coming statements that will help tom while facing anticipating situation.
In order to help Tom with his issue of Alcoholism, the therapist can opt for functional
analysis technique. In partnership, the therapist and the client attempt to identify the emotions,
feelings and circumstances leading to or following drinking. It helps to assess the potential risks
of a relapse. Functional analyzes can also help Tom to understand why he had consumed alcohol
for the first time. This helps to detect situations that are difficult for the person to cope. The
second step that will be taken by the therapist includes skill train. When someone wants to be
treated for their addiction medically, they are likely to use alcohol or drugs as their principal
means of coping with the problem. CBT's aim is to get the adult to learn or develop his ability to
handle (Woo et al., 2017). The therapist seeks to help people understand their old habits and to
learn to become more balanced. The main objective is to teach them about how they think about
their drug abuse. We can then learn new ways of dealing with situations and circumstances that
in the past led to alcohol or drug abuse. CBT's aim is to get the adult to learn or develop his
ability to handle. The therapist will provide Tom with techniques and train him with the same, so
that he can focus on other factors and avoid getting cravings for alcohol while suffering from
anxiety in future.
In this section, identification of Tom’s strength has been performed. One of the major and
mention worthy strength of Tom is his will power to get recovered from the issue he is suffering
from. Tom has effectively stayed 55 days without alcohol that indicates his mental strength and
control over his on emotion. This strength of Tom will help him to avoid consumption of alcohol

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to a great extent. Not only this, this determination of tom will help him to get recovered from the
issue of alcohol consumption while he faces anxiety.
In this section of the essay, some effective suggestion for Tom has been given in order to
help him with his issue. Along with opting for the strategies discussed above, Tom needs to work
on his behavioural changes as well (Springer, Levy & Tolin, 2018). He needs to opt for therapy
hat will help him to control his behaviour even when drunken. Not only this, he needs to
continue his therapy and opt for techniques that will prevent relapse of his condition.
Brief summary
In the above discussion, the issue of Tom who has been suffering from anxiety and stress
that eventually has led into alcoholism has been discussed. Tom, he has been suffering from
anxiety, stress along with alcohol abuse for which CBT will be appropriate for him. In order to
identify the negative thoughts of counselor can conduct a motivational interview session that will
help him to understanding the factors that trigger anxiety and eventually the urge of consuming
alcohol in him. In order to help Tom with his issue of Alcoholism, the therapist can opt for
functional analysis technique. In partnership, the therapist and the client attempt to identify the
emotions, feelings and circumstances leading to or following drinking.

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Reference list
Carpenter, J. K., Andrews, L. A., Witcraft, S. M., Powers, M. B., Smits, J. A., & Hofmann, S. G.
(2018). Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and related disorders: A meta‐analysis of
randomized placebo‐controlled trials. Depression and anxiety, 35(6), 502-514.
Johnson, S. U., Hoffart, A., Nordahl, H. M., & Wampold, B. E. (2017). Metacognitive therapy
versus disorder-specific CBT for comorbid anxiety disorders: a randomized controlled
trial. Journal of anxiety disorders, 50, 103-112.
Marker, I., & Norton, P. J. (2018). The efficacy of incorporating motivational interviewing to
cognitive behavior therapy for anxiety disorders: A review and meta-analysis. Clinical
Psychology Review, 62, 1-10.
Milosevic, I., Chudzik, S. M., Boyd, S., & McCabe, R. E. (2017). Evaluation of an integrated
group cognitive-behavioral treatment for comorbid mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders:
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Springer, K. S., Levy, H. C., & Tolin, D. F. (2018). Remission in CBT for adult anxiety
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Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Niles, A. N., Ries, R., Krull, J. L., Rawson, R., Roy-Byrne, P., & Craske,
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trial comparing addiction treatment alone to addiction treatment plus anxiety disorder treatment
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Wood, J. J., Klebanoff, S., Renno, P., Fujii, C., & Danial, J. (2017). Individual CBT for anxiety
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