Topic 2: Cognitive Theories {by 9/17}
There are three readings due this week (Beck, A. T.; Beck, J. S.; Volungis). For this discussion, share at least two thoughts: (1) What is your understanding of Lazarus’ and Folkman’s conceptualization of cognitive appraisal and coping in relation to CBT? (2) What are your initial impressions in your ability to understand and consistently apply the basic principles of CBT as a therapist? (I realize many of you do not yet have any therapy experience. However, now is a good time to start thinking about being a CBT therapist. Many of you will be starting your practicum next summer!)
Your original post should be posted by the beginning of class 9/17. Have your two replies posted no later than 9/19. *Please remember to click the “reply” button when posting a reply. This makes it easier for the reader to follow the blog postings.
Sep 16, 2026 @ 10:41:13
My understanding of Lazarus and Folkman’s conceptualization of cognitive appraisal and coping in relation to CBT is their idea that an individuals cognitive appraisal influences they way that they cope, and the way that they cope effects their outcomes. This relates to CBT in the idea that an individuals thought, behaviors, and emotions all interact and influence each other. Lazarus and Folkman describe cognitive appraisal as an individuals ability to determine whether certain encounters in their environment will be relevant, whether positively or negatively. Lazarus and Folkman describe coping as an individuals ability to manage demands. If a person typically has a negative cognitive appraisal, it can negatively affect how they think about their environment or their ability to handle situations in their environment, which can lead to a lack of or reduced ability to cope. This relates to CBT in the sense that if a person experiences negative thoughts, they will then exhibit negative behaviors and could have negative interactions with their environment.
In terms of my initial impressions in my ability to understand/utilize CBT principles as a future therapist, I believe that with continued reading and practice I will be able to effectively utilize the basic principles of CBT. In the readings from Beck this week, I was able to better understand the importance of an individual’s conscious and automatic thoughts. I really understood and appreciated the idea that an individual’s emotions is not always due to some unconscious meaning or impulse like it is believed to be in psychoanalytic models, but rather there is a conscious meaning and reasoning that the individual is able to conceptualize. I also appreciated how CBT works to examine ALL of the possible data when determining why an individual is experiencing the emotions they are. One example from Chapter 2 that stood out to me was when Beck provided examples of what can be considered puzzling or confusing emotional disorders (such as the woman who felt faint when walking in public away from her home). Psychoanalytic theories would have explained this behavior as the woman’s unconscious desire “for seduction or rape” and behaviorists would have described her behavior as being due to a previous dangerous experience in her life. CBT theory moved to describe this by taking in all of the data, which consists of the woman’s awareness of being far from home, her automatic thoughts when realizing how far away she is, and the anxiety resulting in her thoughts. I think I will be able to effectively utilize CBT principles in the future since I am now better able to understand the steps in which CBT takes to understand an individual’s full experience and the thoughts that proceed and follow their emotions to better understand why their negative emotions may be occurring.
Sep 16, 2026 @ 14:00:55
According to Lazarus and Folkman, cognitive appraisal is when an individual decides whether their interaction with the environment is important to their well-being. This depends on whether there are any stakes involved for the individual in the interaction, how they may prevent harm to their well-being, and how they may profit from the encounter. Additionally, the researchers discuss the concept of coping, which is how an individual may reduce the cognitive and behavioral effects that an interaction with the environment can cause. People do this through problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping. These types of coping can involve dealing with the problem at hand or using strategies to regulate emotions, respectively. These concepts relate to CBT because an individual’s cognitive appraisal will affect whether the individual engages in coping strategies. Through CBT, we could help the client become more aware of their cognitive appraisal in specific situations to help determine what the internal and external demands placed on them are. This would allow the therapist to help the client create goals, including coping strategies.
Currently, I believe I can definitely understand the concepts of CBT and apply them in sessions with clients. While I know I will need time to apply the concepts well, I believe I can do so consistently. When practicing some therapy skills in a previous class, I felt confident explaining CBT to a client and engaging in goal-setting during a role-play with a classmate. During the role-play, I felt less confident when implementing a worksheet that I went through with my classmate as the client, but I will gain more confidence with these techniques the more I employ them.
Sep 19, 2026 @ 23:24:56
Hi Branden, your explanation between problem-focused coping and emotional-focused focused coping got to me. It makes the ideas and concept very easy to digest. I also agree with you that CBT can help clients become more aware of how they interpret situations and how their coping strategies are helping them. Furthermore, Explaining CBT and setting goals may feel more natural while using techniques can take more practices. I understand that the more we use these skills in role plays, the more effective and confident we will become.
Sep 20, 2026 @ 18:26:10
Hi Braden! I like how you emphasized the idea that cognitive appraisal depends on there being any stakes involved for the individual and how a certain situation may harm or profit them. I also agree with and appreciate how you point out how CBT can be a method to help an individual become aware of their cognitive appraisal in differing situations. I think CBT will be a very effective tool for us future clinicians to help our clients develop better coping strategies and understanding over their thoughts and behaviors.
Sep 16, 2026 @ 19:16:38
My understanding of Lazarus and Folkman’s idea of cognitive appraisal and coping is that how we think about or interpret a situation can affect how we feel and how we respond. Cognitive appraisal is basically how we ask ourselves, “What does this situation mean to me, and can I handle it? Depending on how they understand it, a person may see a situation as a threat, a loss, an advantage, or even a challenge.
I see a strong connection between this idea and CBT because CBT also focuses on how our thoughts and interpretations influence our emotions and behaviors. For example, two people can experience the same stressful situation but react very differently because they are thinking about it differently. Lazarus and Folkman also explain that people can reappraise a situation when they receive new information, meaning their view of the situation can change.
My initial impression is that I understand the basic ideas of CBT, and I feel comfortable, but I also know I am still developing the confidence to use them naturally. As a counseling student, I believe one challenge will be focusing so much on using CBT techniques that I forget to build a strong relationship with the client.
Sep 19, 2026 @ 21:01:32
Hi Fran, I agree with you that the ideas of cognitive appraisal and coping are determined by how a person interprets and thinks about a situation. These concepts immediately make me think of reciprocal determinism, as how we interpret the situation will change how the environment reacts to us and vice versa in cyclical format. I think that is also what you were getting at with your connection between cognitive appraisal and CBT.
Sep 19, 2026 @ 23:04:22
Hi Franciele! I definitely agree with your comments on skipping the importance of the therapeutic relationship. I think when starting out, it can be very easy to want to jump to using the skills you have built without recognizing first that the client needs to be comfortable. This is something I feel like I will have a difficult time with as well, but a skill I look forward to developing as well.
Sep 19, 2026 @ 23:26:15
Franciele, I agree with how you tackled cognitive appraisal as the way we interpret situations and decide if it can be handled. Your example about two people reacting differently to the same stressful event showed how our thoughts can influence our emotions and behavior. Moreover, your point concerning reappraisal is important because it shows that our view of a situation can change when we get new information.
Sep 20, 2026 @ 18:29:27
Hi Franciele! I agree with and appreciate how you make the important distinction that two individuals can experience the same situation and have different reactions depending on their thought processes, and how important CBT can be in working with future clients to help them better understand their thoughts and behaviors to develop better coping mechanisms and change their negative thoughts.
Sep 16, 2026 @ 23:31:21
I understand Lazarus’ and Folkman’s conceptualization of cognitive appraisal and coping in relation to CBT as the way in which our thoughts, feelings, and emotions about an event interact with one another to shape the way one problem-solves. As I see it, cognitive appraisals, or the meanings we associate and assign to different events, essentially serve as automatic thoughts that arise when a specific event occurs. The event also impacts the emotions that arise in the individual, as well as the way one behaves in response, and these can be either adaptive or maladaptive, depending on the meaning that was associated. In terms of CBT, intervening in any of these areas (i.e., working to alter one’s automatic thoughts, reframing the emotions that arise, intervening on behavioral responses) can dramatically shift the way one goes about responding to the world around them. Helping an individual to reframe their thinking and associate more benign meanings to previously distressing events can and will shift the way they respond in the future.
At this point, I believe I understand the basic principles of CBT, however, I feel as though I will need to practice in order to apply these principles consistently. While learning about the various concepts that fall under the CBT umbrella is the first step to successful use of them, putting these concepts into practice will substantially assist in my overall understanding of the impact of CBT interventions on a client. Additionally, I have personally experienced the positive impact of CBT on the client side, and I feel as though having that perspective is helpful. Being able to experience what I hope to help a future client experience helps me to gain a more holistic view of the CBT modality. With that being said, it is very different to be on the other end of CBT as a provider, and I look forward to continuing to build my skills through the role-play assignments this semester, as I believe those will contribute to my ability to implement these in the future. Being able to practice these skills in an environment where it’s more acceptable to make mistakes will improve my confidence when it comes time to meet with real clients.
Sep 19, 2026 @ 09:59:32
Hello,
I really connected with what you said about understanding CBT concepts but still needing practice to feel comfortable using them with clients. I feel the same way. Sometimes something can make perfect sense when we are learning it in class, but actually applying it during a counseling session feels completely different. I also think the role-plays will help us a lot because we can practice, make mistakes, and learn from each other before working with real clients. I think with time and practice, we will both become more confident using CBT.
Sep 17, 2026 @ 14:30:59
My thought about Lazarus and Folkman’s cognitive appraisal theory is that stress can be influenced on how a person views a situation and how it can affect them and also how to respond to it. So if two people go through the same experience or situation, they individually react to it differently. In this case, they decide if the situation may feel harmful or stressful to them and whether they have the skills to handle it.
Moreover, Lazarus and Folkman’s describe coping as an individuals ability to manage demands. The coping mechanism is in two ways where people try to fix or change the problem or where they try to manage how the situation makes them feel.
In addition to this, when I think about becoming a CBT therapist, I feel like I understand the basic ideas, but I know using them in real counseling sessions will probably be more difficult. It is easy to learn that thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are connected, but it may be harder to notice those patterns while also paying attention to everything the client is saying. I think that is something that will improve with practice and supervision.
Sep 19, 2026 @ 21:04:55
Hi Jude! I think you raise a good point that when beginning to practice as a CBT therapist, it will be difficult to conduct therapy while noticing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the client. I feel like it would become easy to focus on one or two of those concepts, but forget to keep an eye on the third. When I think of my skills in CBT, I have neglected to think of this aspect and moreso focused on the goal setting and homework aspect of CBT. This was a really good point and something I need to think about more in the future.
Sep 19, 2026 @ 23:07:53
Hi Jude! I really enjoyed your example about how to people might experience the same situation, but create different meanings from it. This point really helped to illustrate the concept of cognitive appraisal, as well as how those individuals might differ in their responses based on their own perceptions of the event.
Sep 19, 2026 @ 09:56:15
I agree with your thoughts about Lazarus and Folkman’s theory. I also think it is interesting how two people can experience the same situation but react to it completely differently depending on how they view it and their ability to cope with it. I also relate to what you said about becoming a CBT therapist. Understanding the concepts in class is one thing, but applying them while listening and responding to a client will probably take practice. I think supervision and experience will help us become more comfortable and confident over time.