Cognitive Behavioral Therapies

Question: Discuss about the Cognitive Behavioral Therapies. Answer: Introduction The main objective of this psychological study is to determine the cognitive, social, physical and emotional development of a 7-14 years old child. This study will take a period of one week and this will help in analysing the information that will be covered about the child. Children have different stages of development and each child has a different way of undergoing these developments. This normally depends on different factors of development including genetic factors and even social factors. Information needed to carry Out this project work will be acquired from the child being studied. Information here will be first-hand information. The child under study is a female child aged 9years old. The child is a school going child. She has both parents and she hails from a middle social class. Therefore, I needed to gather information that may lead to conclusion related to both genders. Also, I chose a child from middle social class because this is a child with moderate life style- not so rich and not so poor. Therefore, I found it perfect to deal with this girl. The types of information that I mainly need in order to ensure that I come up with relevant information concerning the child is the childs rate of development, the meals that this girl takes, how frequent she takes the meals, the girls school attendance, the girls social life, how the girl relates with her parents, occupations of the parents of this young child and the duties that this girl handles especially when at home. I will get the information mentioned above from the girls parents, friends, teachers and also some of her friends. The information will help in coming up with strategies of development in children (Nsytul, 2008). Methodology In this study, different methodologies will be used to ensure that the child is properly assessed. Also, for the fellow students, questionnaires will be filled. Some of the observation tools that will be used include the answers that the child herself will be able to provide. Also, the reactions of the girls parents will provide some information. Some of the girls friends will also be of great help especially in providing us with relevant information on the study. The main reason for choosing these observation tools is to ensure that the information received is first-hand information (Nystul, 2008). Some of the procedures used to observe information include gathering the girls classmates and alerting them on the reason of them being gathered. Also, the parents will be alerted and they will be informed that a study is being carried out on child development and her child has been chosen as the girl to be studied due to the several factors mentioned above (Meichenbaum, 2007). The main advantage of using this observation type is to ensure that the information based on the study is first-hand information. However, this observation type also has disadvantages. The main disadvantage of this type of data observation include falsified information from the teachers as there can be forms of bias on the information being provided especially by the girls friends and even his parents. Also, some information about development can be found in different websites through the internet. Ethical obligations also exist in carrying out this type of study. Most parents may not allow their children to be used as an experiment. Also, some of the participants including parents, teachers, the girl herself and even her friends may be unwilling to be part of the study. Observations Using the chosen observation tools which involve assessment of different groups of individuals, the following are some of the observations made on different developmental theories: Physical development The girl in study was physically fit. Information from the girls teachers was that the girl was an active member of the schools sports club. She also participated in some junior athletics activities that mostly took place in the schools sports ground (Nystul, 2008). The parents also mentioned that Kim, as she was called, liked playing football especially during her leisure times. She played with some of her friends who came visiting daily in the evenings. She was physically fit and at her age, she was able to run a distance of 1km without any rest. This has an implication that a child can only develop physically if he/she participates in different forms of activities. This way, a child will grow up to be very strong. Kim had well developed gross motor skills as she could easily move her arms, legs and other large body parts. This was easily observed especially when she was practising and participating in athletics. Also, she had well developed fine motor skills as she could easily move her wrist, fingers, toes and feet. This could be observed when she was writing or even during studies. This is a clear indication of fine motor development. Social development Kim has developed socially. This could be observed by how social she was both in school and at home. She was social as she could be seen interacting with both the elderly and her age mates. She also had a set of friends who really affected her life style (Meichenbaum, 2007). At one point, she even refused to take her meals because one of her friends was sick as her mother reports. This is a clear indication that socially, Kim is well developed. If she lacked social development, she could not realize that his friend is sick and she needs to be affected. Cognitive development involves development of the mind. In class work, cognitive development can be fully assessed especially based on Kims performance. Also, language development can be assessed through the communication skills of a given individual. Children also need to develop emotionally and the rate of development usually varies form one individual to the other (Hollon Beck, 2004). Kim was capable of solving some mathematics in her class. At her age, she could solve fraction work and this indicated that Kim was well-developed cognitively. Emotional development Kim is a well developed girl. She could emotionally react. For instance, at one point, her friend was sick. She sympathized with her and even failed to take her meals. This is a clear indication that she had developed emotions and she could change her emotions as per the mood or situation surrounding her. Also, Kim was able to differentiate between sadness and happiness and this could be observed when she felt for her friend due to her sickness. Kim, being a young lady was very creative. She could perfectly draw both moving and non-moving objects. In her class, she was able to draw a hen, an aeroplane and she could also mould different objects. This is a clear indication that Kim was creative enough. Also, at her age, she could come up with ideas of moulding new objects and weaving different objects using pieces of thread. Analysis and findings Development is a very important factor that should be assessed especially in growing children. Several factors may affect the development of a child and these factors range from genetic factors to environmental factors. Children who live luxuriously without any form of parental disturbance tend to develop faster than those who live under pressure from their parents. Also, children who socialize with their friends develop socially at a high rate. Physical development has some attachment with physical exercises and it is also a factor in cognitive development of any child. Strategies for improving Kims development However much Kim is a well developing child, there are certain measures that should be considered to ensure that this young girl is fully developed. From the observations made, the following are some of the strategies: Refraining from too much snacks as this may lead to obesity of the girl The girl should ensure that she does a lot of exercises as she mentioned that she liked fries. In order to remove excess cholesterol from the body, Kim should ensure that she exercises a lot. Also, Kims parents should ensure that she makes friends with individuals form different walks of life as this will help her to learn how to interact with different individuals irrespective of their social classes or even race (Nystul, 2008). Conclusion Child development is a very important aspect that should be followed by all parents. When children develop, there are usually many hindrances that may affect their development. Some children take long to develop and this is usually as a result of internal and external factors of development. Parents should ensure that their children develop as per the developmental theories. These include cognitive development, social development, physical development, development of languages and emotional development among others. References Hollon, S. D., Beck, A. T. (2004).Cognitive and cognitive-behavioral therapies. Meichenbaum, D. (2007). Cognitive behaviour modification.Cognitive Behaviour Therapy,6(4), 185-192. Nystul, M. S. (2008). Transcendental meditation.CorsiniEncyclopedia of Psychology.