Which of the following is a goal of cognitive therapy?

Cognitive therapy primarily focuses on identifying and changing maladaptive thought patterns that contribute to emotional distress and psychological problems. This approach operates on the principle that our thoughts influence our feelings and behaviors, and by altering negative or irrational beliefs, individuals can experience improvements in their emotional well-being and behavioral responses.

Specifically, cognitive therapy targets cognitive distortions—such as all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, and catastrophizing—helping clients to develop more balanced and realistic ways of thinking. By addressing these thought patterns, cognitive therapy aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression.

The other choices reflect goals associated with different therapeutic modalities. Developing psychodynamic insights pertains to understanding unconscious processes and past experiences, which is central to psychodynamic therapy. Dream interpretation is a technique often associated with psychoanalysis, where understanding dreams can provide insight into the unconscious mind. Reinforcement of learned behaviors is a key focus in behavioral therapies, which use principles of conditioning to encourage desirable behaviors. In contrast, cognitive therapy distinctly emphasizes the modification of thought processes rather than these other therapeutic interventions.