Abstract
The commitment of clinicians to deliver Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to people with an intellectual disability has been supported by a small but growing evidence base. This chapter considers the background to this work and highlights the need to ensure that clinicians maintain fidelity to the CBT model and relevant psychological theory. It is acknowledged that the approach will not be accessible to all people with an intellectual disability, as individuals will require a sufficient level of receptive and expressive verbal communication to engage in the therapy. However, it is argued that CBT for people with intellectual disabilities should go beyond a concern with emotional difficulties arising from their intellectual disabilities or ‘cognitive deficits’, and address the nature of their self and interpersonal perceptions.
[W]e just talk about how to deal with our depression and anxiety and that. But she writes things, and she’s doing the flipcharts. That’s quite good that. She writes what you think and how you feel at the time. And how to try and cope with them, then she writes the speech bubbles. It’s quite funny, she’s trying to teach me how to make myself feel better.
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Jahoda, A., Stenfert Kroese, B., Pert, C. (2017). History and Theory. In: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47854-2_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47854-2_2
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