Compare and Contrast
Baheavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Behavioral
Focus: Directly observable behavior, determinants, change promotion, tailored treatment, assessment and evaluation, extensive treatment.
Cognitive
Focus: Combine cognitive and behavioral principles, collaborative client/therapist relationship, distress is caused by cognitive disturbances, cognition change effects behavioral change, time limited, structures, educational treatment.
Similarity
Similarly the end goal to each therapy is to change behavior. BT is focused on the behavior itself while CBT looks at the cognitive changes that have affected the behavior.
Student Suggestion
Each treatment can be used either together or alone. Where the therapist would have a dual focus on both behavior and cognitive cause of behavior. This is actually very common in CBT, there are many elements of BT. You can’t just focus on the cognitive aspect of the therapy without, eventually addressing the behavior itself. If a client is only interested in changing a bad habit and not the cognitive disturbance behind it I would suggest BT. Otherwise CBT has a wider range and takes less time than traditional BT.
Procrastination
If you need help with procrastination I would suggest CBT. The therapist will explore with you the reason why you procrastinate, will educate you on ways to avoid it and will develop a better relationship with you than in BT. It will also take less time and will help you be a better judge as to positive behaviors. Particularly this is seen in REBT, which would, in my opinion suit the issue of procrastination best due to its tactile approach and educative qualities. It would be most likely to address each aspect a student needs to understand reasoning and better skills to avoid the unhealthy behavior.