Identify the statements that are true about Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy.

(A) His theory states that childhood experience provided by family and society develop core schemas
(B) It involves ABC analysis
(C) He claimed core schemas give rise to cognitive distortions
(D) Irrational beliefs are identified as 'must', and 'should'
(E) The illogical patterns are referred as dysfunctional cognitive structures

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :

(A), (C), (E) Only

The correct answer is (A), (C), (E) Only.

Aaron Beck  theory of psychological distress characterised by anxiety or depression, states that childhood experiences provided by the family and society develop core schemas or systems, which include beliefs and action patterns in the individual. Thus, a client, who was neglected by the parents as a child, develops the core schema of “I am not wanted”. During the course of life, a critical incident occurs in her/his life. S/he is publicly ridiculed by the teacher in school. This critical incident triggers the core schema of “I am not wanted” leading to the development of negative automatic thoughts. Negative thoughts are persistent irrational thoughts such as “nobody loves me”, “I am ugly”, “I am stupid”, “I will not succeed”, etc. Such negative automatic thoughts are characterised by cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions are ways of thinking which are general in nature but which distort the reality in a negative manner. These patterns of thought are called dysfunctional cognitive structures. They lead to errors of cognition about the social reality.