Developmental Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Adults outlines a new cognitive approach that combines existing CBT theory and strategies with a lifespan developmental psychopathology perspective.
The major focus is on the relationship between mastery of normative psycho-social developmental tasks and mental health. Primary targets for therapy are maladaptive developmental pathways that have significantly disrupted the client’s ability to cope with normal adult tasks and challenges.
The book builds on standard cognitive therapy models and techniques, while providing further assessment and therapy strategies to address patterns interfering with resolution of normative adult tasks and roles. It introduces several new developmental assessment and therapy strategies, designed to address client difficulties with normal adult developmental tasks and to identify longstanding maladaptive pathways maintaining these difficulties.
The book offers a variety of psycho-social developmental task difficulties in occupational, social, and family functioning. The clinical examples provide a deeper understanding of pathways to competence, as well as pathways to deviance, and the contrast between normal and atypical processes as they emerge at different developmental periods.