Reciprocal CBT Formulation
The Reciprocal CBT Formulation tool aids therapists in addressing clients' relational problems using cognitive behavioral therapy principles through a structured, visual framework.
Reciprocal CBT Formulation
Relationship difficulties can have a significant impact on your mental health and well-being. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes difficult to understand what causes these problems and why they keep happening.
Therapists use tools called ‘formulations’ to explain how a problem may have started and what keeps it going. This Reciprocal CBT Formulation will help you explore and understand difficult relationships with other people, and what you can do to address them.
Overview
The Reciprocal CBT Formulation provides a flexible and structured framework for understanding clients' relational issues within a cognitive-behavioral model. It allows therapists to capture the dynamic nature of interpersonal issues over time. This tool is particularly useful for clients who struggle with mentalizing others' perspectives in relationships, whether due to avoidance, anxiety, or previous relational trauma.
The worksheet is rooted in evidence-based therapeutic models such as the reciprocal model of depression (Teichman, 1992) and cognitive interpersonal model (Safran & Segal, 1996), and uses a visual 'figure of eight' metaphor to represent cyclical relational patterns.
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Part of a complete library of evidence-based tools
Worksheets, guides, audio resources and interactive digital tools for mental health professionals.