Therapeutic Approaches

Name
Professor
Course
Date
Cognitive therapy
I chose the cognitive therapy because it aims to alleviate suffering and teach skills rather than uncover the causes of depression. Moreover, cognitive theory examines how people think and interpret everyday events in their lives, which is what Maggie needs since she is dissatisfied with herself, making her gloomy. Unlike psychoanalytical therapies that focus on the causal factors, cognitive treatment gives depressed people new hope, new skills and alternative ways of thinking.
Maggie is dissatisfied with her life because she thinks she is lowering her standards and she feels like a letdown. Cognitive therapy can efficiently diffuse these thoughts and overtime, change Maggie’s view of the world, hence get rid of her sense of gloom and doom (Beck, 78).
Maggie experiences constant negative automatic thoughts, but by focusing on it, magnifies the reality of these negative thoughts. This negative distortion amplifies the depression. Maybe Maggie may be slaking a bit, but due to depression, she feels like a worthless underachiever. Cognitive therapy will help Maggie recognize and mitigate negative automatic thoughts by encouraging realistic thinking that will enable her to discover and correct false beliefs that lead to depression (Beck, 68).
My therapeutic approach would include the use of techniques and exercises. I would ask Maggie to note down every time she gets a wave of sadness and what she was thinking beforehand. Moreover, I may help her explore the kind of thoughts she has and change them to more healthy thoughts.

My therapeutic goal would be to assist Maggie to identify random negative thoughts and to avoid negative thoughts in future.
Using Cognitive behavioral therapy, I could help Maggie to alter her perception of events, thus efficiently influence her emotions and behavior through cognitive restructuring. By breaking down bigger problems into manageable parts, then setting and attaining short-term goals, Maggie will change her attitude toward situations.
Works cited
Beck, Aaron T., ed. Cognitive therapy of depression. Guilford press, 1979.