Treatment Planning and Interventions · Cognitive Levels

Which Level Is It

Eight things clients have said, sorted into the four cognitive levels. The level is what selects the approach, so getting it wrong means aiming a thought record at an identity belief.

What this exercise practises

Identifying which level a sexual cognition is operating at from how the client phrases it, and recognising the specific condition under which restructuring should give way to defusion.

The statements are written the way clients talk rather than the way the figure phrases them. Two per level, and the two distinctions that cost people most are flagged in the feedback.

Estimated time to complete this exercise: 20 minutes

1Four levels
2The approach
3Close

Before you begin

How this one works

Eight things clients have said, sorted into the four cognitive levels in Figure 5.1. Two per level.
They are written the way clients talk rather than the way the figure phrases them, so the level has to be identified rather than matched.
The level determines the approach, which is the reason the sort matters. After it there is one case where the level is already clear and the approach is the question.
Nothing is graded and nothing is recorded. Reloading starts it again.

Cognitive restructuring is most effective when the identified thought is specific and behaviourally proximal rather than abstract. The more specific the thought, the more specific the restructuring can be, which is why identifying the level is not a taxonomic exercise.

References

  1. Nobre, P. J., & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2006). Dysfunctional sexual beliefs as vulnerability factors to sexual dysfunction. The Journal of Sex Research, 43(1), 68–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490609552300
  2. Nobre, P. J., & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2008). Cognitions, emotions, and sexual response: Analysis of the relationship among automatic thoughts, emotional responses, and sexual arousal. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37(4), 652–661. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-007-9258-0