Arjun, 35, a bank clerk in Lucknow, has felt anxious for months. His therapist uses relaxation procedures and cognitive restructuring, and his anxiety slowly eases. Arjun also says that seeing the same therapist every week, who is warm and understanding, makes him feel better. At the same centre, he joins a group in which another therapist asks members to act out fantasies about their feelings and conflicts, so that they notice the bodily processes and emotions they have blocked out of awareness.
In the rationale of CBT, the relaxation procedures used with Arjun address which part of his distress?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → The biological aspects
Option (1) The psychological aspects — Incorrect. In CBT the psychological aspects are handled by behaviour therapy and cognitive therapy techniques, such as Arjun's cognitive restructuring.
Option (2) The social aspects — Incorrect. The social aspects are handled through environmental manipulations.
Option (3) The spiritual aspects — Incorrect. Spiritual aspects belong to logotherapy's idea of existential anxiety. They are not one of the realms in the CBT rationale.
Option (4) The biological aspects — Correct. CBT takes a bio-psychosocial approach: distress has biological, psychological and social roots. The biological aspects are addressed through relaxation procedures.
NCERT (2026-27): “Cognitive Behaviour Therapy “The rationale is that the client’s distress has its origins in the biological, psychological, and social realms. Hence, addressing the biological aspects through relaxation procedures, the psychological ones through behaviour therapy and cognitive therapy techniques and the social ones with environmental manipulations makes CBT a comprehensive technique which is easy to use, applicable to a variety of disorders, and has proven efficacy.” |