There is voluminous research that supports the efficacy of CBT for many different issues with a wide range of diagnoses and age groups (Clevenger,2014). Anxiety, substance abuse, and obsessive compulsive disorder are among some of the therapies treated with CBT. A meta-analyses found that the use of CBT was effective for generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Patients with anxiety often have co-morbid depression; CBT was found to be effective in alleviating symptoms of …show more content…
Research on six widely used therapies for depression found that CBT was most effective for adults, including the elderly, college students, and patients with substance use disorders (Cuijpers, Ebert, Acarturk, Andersson & Cristea, 2016). CBT can be used alone or in conjunction with pharmacological interventions. Therapy is time-specified unlike traditional psychotherapy which can last for years. CBT is goal directed and time-specific; it may not useful for those patients with wider ranging emotional issues that would benefit from different therapeutic approaches. CBT therapy requires active collaboration and participation by the patient; it has been found to have effects on the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, but there is no evidence of CBT improving negative symptoms (Chien, Leung, Yeung, & Wong (2013). A pilot study of patients with mild learning disabilities suggested that cognitive deficits may reduce the efficacy of CBT (Hartley, et al.,