A terapia cognitiva e a teoria cognitiva da emoção de Lazarus

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of the theory of emotion from Richard Lazarus on the Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy (CT). The first called ‘cognitive-behavioral’ approaches, focused on cognitive processes, emerged in the period, which, according to some authors, the so-called ‘cognitive revolution’ occurred. The Aaron Beck’s TC is one of the most outstanding in this movement. In his cognitive model, Beck argues that the perception of events influence emotions and behaviors, and defends the primacy of cognition over emotional processes. Concomitantly, emotion begins to be experimentally investigated, highlighting the problem of the relationship between cognition and emotion. Through literature research and theoretical analysis, we sought to review the status of the concept of emotion in psychology emphasizing the theory of emotion from Lazarus. As a result, we point out the role of emotion, both for Lazarus and for Beck, as a source of information to psychodynamic processes, meanwhile positing the primacy of cognition and the constructivist view of knowledge. The similarity between the conceptual views of basic emotions: anger, anxiety and sadness and their drive models, the use of Lazarus primary and secondary evaluation concepts on CT, the ability to control emotion by reason and the concept of empathy, points direct influences from Lazarus on TC. It is also pointed at the end of the study the current movement of Beck in seeking conciliation with the results of neuropsychology and with theories that emphasize emotion, what is seen in his Theory of Modes.