Within Counseling and Helping Relationships, CACREP emphasizes knowledge of counseling theories, including cognitive and cognitive-behavioral approaches.
In cognitive theory of depression (commonly associated with Aaron Beck):
Depression is understood as being driven primarily by maladaptive cognitions, such as negative automatic thoughts, faulty assumptions, and dysfunctional core beliefs.
These cognitive distortions (e.g., all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, catastrophizing) shape how clients interpret events, leading to depressive feelings and behaviors.
While factors like biochemical changes and neuropathology (Options B and D) can play a role in depression from a medical or biological perspective, cognitive theory specifically emphasizes that it is the patterns of distorted thinking that are central to the development and maintenance of depressive symptoms.
Conditioned reactions (Option A) are more strongly associated with behavioral and learning theories, not the core principle of cognitive theory.
Therefore, in cognitive theory of depression, symptoms are primarily viewed as the result of distortions in thinking, making C the correct answer.
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