Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that deals with dysfunctional emotions and feelings in a structured manner usually involving journaling, and reflecting on your journaled thoughts. The idea is to discover incorrect thinking and emotions. It has been found to be effective in quite a number of disorders including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and OCD.

CBTReferee [iTunes Link] $4.99US, was written by Andrew Arrow to assist in his personal therapist-directed CBT. Finding himself always needing to carry around a notebook, since negative thoughts and feelings happen at random, he built quite a simple app for his own use. Finding it personally effective, he decided to put it in the app store, not really knowing if it would be useful for others. Feedback he received convinced him otherwise.

The app contains a brief description of CBT and clear instruction on how to properly utilize the app. It's just enough information to get started, and doesn't bog down in theory, so you can get up to speed quickly.

When a negative thought occurs, the app directs you to write it down immediately. Once done, tapping the next button takes you through a screen of ten potential fallacies inherent in your entry. Some of these include: Nothing or All (black and white thinking where one small flaw kills an entire concept), Conclusion Jumping (assuming facts that don't' exist), Emotions as Evidence (assuming that if you feel a certain way, it must be true), and many others.

With the journaled text visible, scroll through the list and check any of the options that you think may apply to your statement. Next, you are presented with a type-in screen titled:
Referee Says, where, based on your statement and the options you have chosen, you try to write as objective an assessment as possible, to negate the statement.Continue reading Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in your pocket with the CBTReferee app
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in your pocket with the CBTReferee app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in your pocket with the CBTReferee app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.


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