Enhancing Creativity in Cognitive Therapy

This article explores the nature of creativity in psychotherapy and offers several methods and frameworks with which to enhance creativity as a cognitive therapist. It reviews the methodologically permissive parameters of Beck's model, while providing a framework for enfolding methods from other models so as to retain the cognitive character of these interventions when used within the cognitive therapy session. It also extrapolates from Edward deBono's model of how to improve the quality of thinking to suggest specific interventions as well as general principles that can be used or adapted in cognitive therapy treatment. Numerous case examples are given and further resources for nurturing and generating creativity are provided. The Nature of Creativity Creativity by its very nature somewhat eludes firm definitions. However, concepts associated with greater creativity in my mind include novelty; play; flexibility; shifting levels, tracks, or modalities; possibility; exploration; usefulness; humor; transformation; uncertainty; and surprise. Concepts associated with less creativity include rigidity, predictability, sureness, stubbornness, frozenness in time, repetition, a singular perspective, narrowness of constructs or their inability to expand, stereotyping, and an inability to appreciate context. The old definition of neurosis (doing the same thing over and over and yet expecting different results) is a great polar opposite to more creativity. Special Resonance for Cognitive Therapists Creativity is especially important for cognitive therapists to explore in that it represents both an in-the-moment shift in perspective and a skill to repeatedly engender such adaptive shifts in life. Many of our clients are indeed somewhat creative in some spheres of their lives, but find it difficult to apply these tendencies to arenas where their dysfunctional schemas intrude. Creativity involves breaking out of this cycle, often in a counter-intuitive way. This is why cognitive therapists encourage clients to act against their schemas: to "feel the fear and do it anyway" (Jeffers, 1992). Here the creative response is to disobey the very strong internal injunction that tells us to flee or fight but instead to stay the course to see what we may thereby learn. Clients then can experience dreaded feelings without the dreaded nonemotional consequences (e.g., absolute failure). This discrepancy helps establish new associations to old feelings and behaviors, freeing them to do other things. Moreover, the Beckian cognitive model itself is very methodologically permissive, allowing almost any technique to be used that promotes enduring cognitive change. If one works within an individualized cognitive conceptualization and toward promoting enduring cognitive change, the methods one chooses to achieve those ends are only as limited as one's imagination. Cognitive therapy can therefore borrow freely from other systems of psychotherapy (Weishaar, 1993) or other models (e.g.,deBono, 1982,1991;Langer, 1989). Of course, the true test of whether an intervention has been really creative in the way I mean it here is whether it significantly modifies the client's belief system. The most clever intervention fails if it is not congenial with a good individual case conceptualization. Creative interventions must therefore be assessed later: "How did the client understand the meaning of the intervention? What will she go away with from this session? How will that help him?" Ideally clients will be able to articulate well and with a sense of hope at least a seminal message of meaning transformation. Obstacles to Creativity I conceptualize creativity as existing on a continuum to avoid seeing it in all or nothing terms, which I believe obscures current creative achievements and frustrates those seeking to become more creative. If we view ourselves or our clients as noncreative, this attitude in itself hampers the creative spirit, which in my mind suggests that many exciting options beyond our current vision are not only possible, but definite. …