1st Edition
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Adolescents and Young Adults An Emotion Regulation Approach
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Adolescents and Young Adults: An Emotion Regulation Approach provides a unique focus on therapeutic practice with adolescents and young adults, covering everything from psychological theories of adolescence to the treatment of common emotional difficulties.
Beginning with a review of development through adolescence into adulthood, and the principles of CBT, the book highlights problems with traditional models of CBT for adolescents and young adults. In a fresh approach, this book separates CBT from diagnosis and grounds it instead in emotion science. Adolescents and young adults learn not about disorders and symptoms, but about emotions, emotional ‘traps’, and how they can use CBT to bring about change. There are chapters on fear, sadness, anger, emotion dysregulation, and happiness. Each chapter provides an outline of emotion science, a clear cognitive behavioural formulation (‘trap’), and evidence-based interventions. Clinicians are walked through the process using case illustrations.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Adolescents and Young Adults represents a transformation of CBT practice, and will become a valuable treatment manual to training and practising mental health professionals, especially psychotherapists specialising in CBT.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Adolescent development
What and when is adolescence?
Physical development
Brain development
Cognitive development
Social cognitive development
Identity development
Emotion and emotion regulation development
Relations with families and peers
Bringing it all together: theories of adolescent development
Chapter 3: Principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
History of CBT
Theoretical principles of cognitive behavioural therapy
Practical constructs of CBT
Evidence base
Chapter 4: Problems with diagnosis-based CBT in adolescents and young adults
Problems with Diagnosis
Problems with CBT in Routine Clinical Practice
Chapter 5: A Fresh Approach
Theoretical approach of this book
Five pillars of the approach
Chapter 6: Fear
What causes fear?
What is fear?
What is the function of fear?
Fear and the hand brain
Adolescent development and fear
Fear trap
Drawing the fear trap
Breaking the fear trap: intervention
Specific presentations
Evidence base
Chapter 7: Sadness
What causes sadness?
What is sadness?
What is the function of sadness?
Adolescent development and sadness
Sadness trap
Drawing the sadness trap
Breaking the sadness trap: intervention
Evidence base
Chapter 8: Anger
What causes anger?
What is anger?
What is the function of anger?
Adolescent development and anger
Anger trap
Drawing the anger trap
Breaking the anger trap: intervention
Evidence base
Chapter 9: Emotion dysregulation
What is emotion dysregulation?
What causes emotion dysregulation?
What is the relationship between emotion dysregulation and interpersonal dfficulty?
Adolescent development and emotion dysregulation
Emotion dysregulation trap
Drawing the emotion dysregulation trap
Breaking the emotion dysregulation trap: intervention
Evidence base
Chapter 10: Disgust
What causes disgust?
What is disgust?
What is the function of disgust?
When disgust becomes a problem
Interventions for disgust and fear
Evidence base
Chapter 11: Guilt and shame
What causes guilt and shame?
What are guilt and shame?
What are the functions of guilt and shame?
Difficulties with guilt
Difficulties with shame
Evidence base
Chapter 12: Happiness
What causes happiness?
What is happiness?
What is the function of happiness?
Happiness, wellbeing, and flourishing
Adolescent development and happiness
Happiness wheel
Happiness wheel: intervention
Evidence base
Biography
Dr Lawrence Howells is a clinical psychologist specialising in work with adolescents and young adults. He has previously worked as clinical lead for a youth psychology team and currently works in a multidisciplinary youth mental health team.
"Dr Howells's new book, and method, reimagines CBT for the next generation. Grounded in fine-grain, intelligent clinical practice and expertise, the innovative techniques described here focus on developing a can-do mentality in young people – crucially, helping them reframe their 'symptoms' as normal responses to the developmental challenges of life. On the basis of cutting-edge psychological science, and with many clear case examples, Dr Howells tilts CBT on its axis to show how young people can understand their feelings, harness their latent abilities, and take back control of their futures. At a time when young people are facing unprecedented emotional challenges, Dr Howells's powerful new re-reading of CBT is a priceless gift to give them, their families, and the professionals with whom they work."
Dr Roger Kingerlee, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust
"This book offers a practical and refreshingly different approach to doing cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) with adolescents and young adults. It is an ideal text for the therapist who is starting out in offering CBT for adolescents, as well as for the more experienced clinician who wants to refresh their knowledge and to review and reflect on their applied skills. The evidence base and theory driving the approach blends seamlessly into each chapter. A great addition to the existing CBT practitioner texts for those working with adolescents and young adults!"
Dr Maria Loades, Senior Lecturer/Senior Clinical Psychologist/NIHR Research Fellow, University of Bath
"As health care restructures to respond in a more timely way to the mental health needs of young people in transition from childhood to adulthood, we urgently need psychosocial interventions that are fit for purpose and transcend our artificial diagnostic frameworks. ER-CBT offers a developmentally attuned approach which is transdiagnostic and, with its primary focus on emotions, is better targeted than traditional CBT for young people. Novel therapies like this are needed as the new 12 –25 system of youth mental health care takes shape in many countries. They can be enhanced through new technologies like virtual reality and on-line platforms but the theoretical and practical building blocks mesh well with the experience and needs of young people. This approach is likely to evolve further with feedback from young people themselves and experienced therapists."
Prof Patrick McGorry, Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, and President of the International Association for Youth Mental Health
"The term ‘paradigm shift’ is often overused. However, in the case of Lawrence Howells’ new book I believe that we are witnessing exactly that.
This book gives us a really fresh approach to CBT with adolescents and young adults, at a time where effective psychological therapy approaches with this age group are more crucial than ever. Howells’ approach will help adolescents and young adults to understand a range of emotions - fear, sadness, anger, and shame - and to learn methods of bringing about change, aiming at a desired outcome of happiness and wellbeing."
Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist and Supervisor, and Past President of the British Psychological Society (2015-2016)
"An excellent, stimulating and at times challenging addition to the literature, this book is highly recommended for both novice and experienced therapists or indeed anyone working with young people who feel that simple yet powerful models would be useful in helping them to connect with and help young people experiencing a variety of emotional issues. Highly recommended."
Dr Jon Wilson, Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Psychotherapist at teh Norfolk Youth Service. Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of East Anglia
