Introduction
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is one of the most popular forms of therapy which originates from the cognitive school of thought. Why is it popular? Well, because it is considered to be more quicker and efficient than other forms of therapy.(Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Mayo Clinic, n.d.) CBT is known to be a structured form of therapy which can teach people how to cope with specific life challenges in a lesser amount of sessions than other therapies. And, with a country like India, where people often look for quick solutions- it does work well, however it’s limited in its applicability to all populations. Let’s explore the role of CBT in an Indian context through the course of this blog!
What is CBT, really?
CBT can look like learning to recognise one’s distorted thoughts that are creating problems and then re-evaluating them in the light of reality. It is a fairly intellectual approach that works on changing one’s thoughts hoping that it will eventually lead to a change in one’s behaviour and their perception about their concerns. Cognitive therapy has been proposed by Aaron Beck in the 1960’s which was later merged with behaviour techniques leading to the development of cognitive behavioural therapy.
CBT in the Indian context: Points in it’s favour
While CBT might have emerged from western countries and has made its way to the east, it does talk about a fair amount of thought processes that are quite universal in nature. For example the cognitive distortions or the human thinking errors that it talks about such as all or none thinking where or catastrophizing where situations are viewed in extremes, with no middle ground or catastrophizing where situations are seen as more extreme than they are, are prevalent universally, regardless of its cultural contexts. Moreover, the structured and goal oriented nature of CBT makes it suitable for urban, educated Indians who often look for quick solutions in therapy rather than exploring the root cause of their issues for months. CBT being a rational and practical approach is apt for the fast paced life of individuals living in cities who want a structured measure of their progress. Lastly, CBT’s adaptable nature makes it suitable for online therapy session deliveries or app based interventions like Wysa or Healo.
Cultural Barriers and limitations
Coming from the west,CBT naturally adopts an individualistic worldview for it’s perception of the cause of issues and it’s treatment. This becomes a cultural barrier for a country like India which is predominantly collectivistic. Most people in India still value collectivistic values like respect for elders, family duty and relational harmony. Secondly, for CBT to work efficiently, there needs to be a lot of verbalization and cognitive processing done by the client. This can be a hindrance especially in India where therapy is stigmatised to the extent that people aren’t so open about their feelings and often fail to verbalise how they feel in words. Adding to that, the prevalence of diversity in India, particularly in terms of regional languages makes it even more difficult for words like “negative thoughts” which are prominent in CBT to be translated into a local language. Most often, a literal translation of negative thoughts would end up being seen as moral failing or “karma”. Thirdly, CBT relies quite a lot on homeworks and assignments based on emotional work which a client is expected to do at home in between sessions. This clashes with the way Indians currently treat therapy. With the growing nature of therapy, India is a relatively poor country where most people often struggle to get their basic needs met. Hence, they might view the homework based models as an additional burden which can hinder with their time availability, privacy and belief systems about therapy
Conclusion
In conclusion, CBT has it’s advantages and limitations when working with an Indian population. The final answer can’t be an absolute yes or no. But we can surely say that CBT works well with a certain Indian population like the urban educated elites, while it might not work so well with rural populations who are more emotionally restrained or spiritually oriented. However, in recent times, there have been talks of culturally adapted CBT which includes use of metaphors, storytelling, and specific religious/cultural references which might work quite decently with an Indian population. Involvement of family systems within CBT as well as the integration traditional Indian practices like yoga or meditation might be a revolutionary change which can make CBT accessible to all Indians regardless of their race, religion or geographical location
