Shared Case Formulation as the Main Therapeutic Process in Cognitive Therapies

This first chapter introduces the core assumption discussed in the book: sharing case formulation is the initial move and main operational tool of a significant number of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approaches. This aspect is increasingly becoming the hallmark of many of these approaches because it is in line with the CBT principle of clinical change: The assumption that conscious cognition is the cardinal mediator of emotional suffering and the main target of therapeutic intervention. Another core assumption of the book is that the process of shared case formulation procedures in CBT approaches allows the therapist to manage both CBT-specific and non-specific features of the therapeutic process. Last, the book explores similarities and differences in the use of case formulation between CBT and some relational and psychodynamic approaches. The case formulation in these non-CBT models is not completely shared from the beginning of treatment, being rather the final result of an explorative path and an outcome of the therapeutic process. This first chapter explains the plan of the book, showing how some chapters concern case formulation in either CBT or non-CBT therapeutic orientations while other chapters, written by experts in specific therapeutic orientations, are critical comments of the core assumptions of the book.