Rapport Building

In therapeutic environments, counselling sessions, and other types of

interpersonal interactions, rapport-building is very important in psychology. The
following are some psychological methods for establishing rapport:
1. Active listening: Focusing intently on the other person’s words without
interrupting or planning your own response. This exhibits empathy and demonstrates
that you value their viewpoint.
2. Empathy: Demonstrate compassion and understanding for the thoughts, feelings,
and experiences of others. Building a deep connection with them by sharing their
emotions is beneficial.
3. Nonverbal communication: Make sure to maintain eye contact, exude an open,
welcoming body language, and nod or make the right facial expressions to show that
you’re interested and comprehending what’s being said.
4. Reflective Statements: Reiterate or rephrase the other person’s words to show that
you comprehend them and to spark additional conversation.
5. Ask open-ended questions: Don’t limit your inquiries to “yes” or “no” answers.
Deeper and more meaningful interactions are sparked by these queries.
6. Validation: Even if you don’t always agree with them, acknowledge the other
person’s feelings and experiences. People who receive validation may feel heard and
understood.
7. Be trustworthy, dependable, and consistent in all of your encounters to build trust.
The development of rapport requires trust.
8. Find Common Ground: To create a sense of kinship and similarity, pinpoint
comparable passions or life experiences.
9. Positive Remarks: When appropriate, provide compliments and encouraging
remarks. Recognizing the other person’s abilities and successes can improve the
relationship.
10. Cultural Sensitivity: When establishing a rapport with people from various
backgrounds, be mindful of cultural differences and respect various viewpoints and
practices.
11. Genuine Interest: Exhibit a genuine interest in learning about the ideas and
feelings of the other person. This could promote rapport and trust.
12. Use Humour Wisely: A well-timed, amusing remark or joke can help break the
ice and foster a more laid-back environment.
13. Personal Disclosure: Being more relatable and human by disclosing pertinent and
acceptable personal information.
14. Just wait: You need to take your time to develop rapport, so be patient. Allow the
bond to grow naturally.
Beck’s theory of psychopathology
The psychopathology theory of Dr. Aaron T. Beck, which is frequently linked
to Cognitive Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), offers a paradigm for
comprehending the emergence and upkeep of psychological problems. According to
Beck’s hypothesis, dysfunctional and distorted thought patterns serve as the primary
foundation for psychopathology. The cornerstones of Beck’s theory of
psychopathology are as follows:
 Cognitive Triad: According to Beck, people who suffer from psychiatric
problems frequently have a distorted cognitive triad, which comprises of
unfavourable ideas about three important topics:
1. Self-deprecating thoughts, such as feeling unworthy or inadequate.
2. Negative worldviews (such as the idea that the world is unfriendly or unfair).
3. Pessimistic predictions of the future, such as expecting bad outcomes all the time.
 Automatic ideas: These are uncontrollable, frequently absurd, and negative ideas
that come to mind in reaction to particular circumstances or triggers. Negative
emotions and maladaptive behaviours might be exacerbated by automatic
thoughts.
 Cognitive Distortions: According to Beck, people with psychological problems
frequently make certain types of cognitive distortions or thinking mistakes. All-
or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, overgeneralizing, and other errors are
among these. These alterations affect how people see reality.
 Schema Activation: In response to specific circumstances or life experiences,
maladaptive schemas, which are ingrained cognitive processes, are activated.
Negative automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions may be generated as a
result of this activation.
 Core Beliefs: At the centre of the psychopathology hypothesis are core beliefs,
which stand for a person's primary convictions towards themselves and the
 outside world. These underlying principles can be unfavourable and self-critical
in people with psychological problems and frequently emerge early in life.
 Maintenance of Disorders: According to Beck's theory, psychiatric disorders are
maintained and perpetuated by these distorted thought patterns, cognitive
distortions, and negative core beliefs. Negative emotions and undesirable
behaviours are brought on by negative thought patterns.
 Cognitive Restructuring: Identifying and challenging these erroneous thought
patterns and beliefs is the main objective of treatment based on Beck's theory.
The goal of this cognitive restructuring process is to replace unhelpful or negative
thought processes with more logical and adaptive ones.

Beck's Cognitive Theory of Depression Features Underlying Dysfunctional

Beliefs

Beck's main argument was that depression was instituted by one's view of
oneself, instead of one having a negative view of oneself due to depression.This has
large social implications of how we as a group perceive each other and relate our
dissatisfaction with one another.
Abela and D'Alessandro's study on college admissions is a good example of
this phenomenon. In their study they found that the student's negative views about
their future strongly controlled the interaction between dysfunctional attitudes and the
increase in depressed mood. The research clearly backed up Beck's claim that those at
risk for depression due to dysfunctional attitudes who did not get into their college of
choice then doubted their futures, and these thoughts lead to symptoms of depression.
Therefore, the students' self-perceptions became negative after failing to get into
college, and many showed signs of depression due to this thinking. Other aspects of
this study did not match up well with Beck. They elaborate: "As for participants' more
enduring mood reactions, our findings are incongruent with Beck's...theory....
Therefore, one possible explanation of discrepancies between these studies is that
immediately following the occurrence of a negative event, cognitively vulnerable
individuals show marked increases in depressed mood. At the same time, the do not
yet exhibit increases in other symptoms of depression.... However, in vulnerable
individuals such depressed mood may be to be accompanied by a host of other
depressive symptoms.... Their level of depressed mood, however, was simply not
more severe than individuals who did not possess dysfunctional attitudes" . What
occurred is that the requirements, according to Beck, for depressive symptoms were
there but they did not occur regardless. Findings like this show that Beck's theory may
not be as complete as we would like, and there is likely to be factors which are
unaccounted for in play in situations like this.

Beck's Negative Cognitive Triad

Another way to look at these cognitive thoughts is through Beck's Negative

Cognitive Triad, which explains that negative thoughts are about the self, the world,
and the future.
For example,
In a study done by Brown et al (1995) they centered their focus on college
students receiving poor exam scores. Brown reported, "The results suggested that a
specific construct measured by the DAS interacted with a congruent stressor (poorer
than expected performance on a college exam) to predict increases in depressive
symptoms." (Brown et al., 1995, p.434) In this study we would say that the students
are having negative thoughts about their future, because they may not pass the class.
Negative thoughts about the world, meaning they may come to believe they do not
enjoy the class. And finally negative thoughts about themselves, as in they do not
deserve to be in college.
Beck's Cognitive Theory of Depression Features Cognitive Biases and
Distortions
A key part of Beck's Theory is not only that the subject will feel negative
underlying beliefs, but also that these beliefs fall into a certain field which separates
them from other disorders such as panic and anxiety disorders.
For example, these include polar reasoning, selective abstraction, and
overgeneralization. Such feelings promote failure in the first and last and loss in the
second. Polar(dichotomous or all-or-none) reasoning is extreme, so even a slight
waiver from perfection is considered failure. Abstraction means that successes are
ignored, and lost to the subject, who is left only with sadness. Overgeneralization
implies one will do poor at one thing, and assume failure in all related things. Thus,
the main feelings of depression according to Beck are failure and loss. In a study done
by Beck himself with Clark and Brown (1989) he looks to confirm this by studying
psychiatric outpatients. He found that "the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis
was strongly supported by the present study. Thoughts of loss and failure were
uniquely predictive of depression, whereas cognitions of harm and danger were
specifically associated with anxiety." (Clark, Beck, & Brown, 1989, p.963) Here we
see the even Beck himself was working on fleshing out aspects of his theory. Beck is
careful to caution us however that his findings are not only from the subjects
cognitive thoughts, but that the temporal orientation' of the cognitive thoughts must be
examined as well in order to confidently specify a cognitive-affective relationship.
While anxiety patients may feel failure, it is not related to depression but due to those
feelings' prominence during and after an anxiety attack.
Beck's Cognitive Theory of Depression Features a Cognitive Model of
Depression Showing the Formation of Dysfunctional Beliefs
Beck's Cognitive Model of Depression shows how early experiences can lead
to the formation of dysfunctional beliefs, which in turn lead to negative self views,
which in turn lead to depression.
One interesting study on this aspect is Reed's (1994) study on reducing depression in
adolescents. Many studies have ascertained that depression is more common in
women in western society. Reed's study amazingly shows a large number of female
whose cognitive thinking prevented them from recovering from depression, while the
males adjusted much better. He comments that this is from the difference between
common early experiences between males and females. Males, he believes "run a
fairly structured and consistent developmental course Depressed males often appear
either physically awkward or lacking in social/interpersonal skills. Responses to this
awkwardness by adults and peers usually consist of strong sanctions, punishment, and
negative reinforcement. Moderate improvement in male functioning will usually
receive positive responses from both peers and adults. Additionally, male social
networks tend to be flexible, and based primarily on current functioning. Therefore,
male adolescents can improve their social status as their interpersonal functioning
improves." (Reed, 1994) His conclusion is that because males are developing healthy
beliefs, they are able to cope with depressing feelings. They do not generally develop
depression due to lack of negative thoughts about the self, because the social structure
correctly rewards them for having positive thoughts, which prevents depression. On
the other hand, the female adolescent social structure is much different, and they are
more prone to develop irrational and dysfunctional beliefs.
Beck's Cognitive Theory Based on Negative Self Schemas

Schema are core beliefs or mental frameworks that people develop over time.
These schemas represent the way individuals perceive and make sense of themselves,
others, and the world around them. Schemas are built through early life experiences,
social learning, and personal beliefs.Beck's cognitive theory of depression is central to
negative thoughts only. It did not take any other factors into account, such as
biological factors (e.g., hormones or genetics) or rates of reinforcement.

Negative Self-Schemas and Cognitive Theory

Beck's cognitive theory is based on cognitive perceptions and is considered a

breakthrough in cognitive research. Beck's cognitive theory basically states that
depression-prone individuals possess negative self-beliefs. They have a negative view
of themselves, seeing themselves as worthless, unlovable, and deficient; they have a
negative view of their environment, seeing it as overwhelming, filled with obstacles
and failure; and they have a negative view of their future, seeing it as hopeless and
believing that no effort will change their lives. These three factors were called the
cognitive triad. The negative way of thinking guides one's perceptions, interpretations,
and memory for personally relevant experiences, thereby resulting in a negatively
based worldview and leading to depression.

An interpersonal schema is conceptualized as a generalized representation of

self-other relationships. The interpersonal schema is initially based on interactions
with attachment figures such as parents, permitting the individual to predict
interactions in a way that increases the probability of maintaining relatedness with
these figures. In theory, an interpersonal schema contains information of the form: "If
I do X, others do Y." Thus, interpersonal schemas maintain themselves using the
principle of complementary, which states that specific interpersonal behaviors tend,
predictably, to pull for other specific, interpersonal behaviors.

Even though Allen attempted to show that negative thought processes

sometimes form during childhood, and, therefore, we can see how some people
become more prone to depression than others, it is somewhat unclear how those
negative self-schemas are formed, what factors affect the formation of negativity in
children to make them grow into depression-prone adults.

Differentiate between different emotions

Certainly, differentiating between different emotions involves recognizing the

unique characteristics and triggers of each emotion. Here's a step-by-step guide to
help you differentiate various emotions:

1. Self-Awareness: Start by developing self-awareness. Take time to observe and

understand what you're feeling at any given moment. Pay attention to bodily
sensations, thoughts, and behaviors associated with your emotions.
2. Label Your Emotions: Practice naming your emotions. Use a rich emotional
vocabulary to describe what you're experiencing. Instead of saying, "I feel bad,"
specify whether you feel sad, angry, anxious, joyful, or any other specific
emotion.
3. Physical Sensations: Different emotions often come with distinct physical
sensations. Pay attention to how your body responds to different feelings. For
example, fear might cause a racing heart and sweaty palms, while sadness could
be associated with a heavy feeling in your chest.
4. Facial Expressions: Emotions are often expressed through facial expressions.
Look in a mirror and observe your own facial expressions when you experience
different emotions. This can help you identify the unique cues that accompany
each emotion.
5. Body Language: In addition to facial expressions, emotions can be reflected in
body language. Consider how you hold yourself, your posture, gestures, and
movements when you feel different emotions.
6. Vocal Tone: Your voice and tone can also convey emotions. Listen to your own
voice when you're happy, angry, sad, or anxious. Notice how your tone, pitch,
and rate of speech change with different emotions.
7. Triggers: Recognize the specific situations, thoughts, or events that trigger
different emotions. Understanding what sets off each emotion can help you
differentiate them. For instance, you might feel joy when spending time with
loved ones but anxiety in certain social situations.
8. Intensity: Emotions can vary in intensity. Some emotions may be subtle and
mild, while others can be intense and overwhelming. Try to gauge the intensity of
your emotions as a way to distinguish between them.
9. Duration: Different emotions may persist for varying lengths of time. Some
emotions are fleeting, while others can linger for hours or even days. Note how
long you experience a particular emotion as a way to differentiate it from others.
10. Mixed Emotions: Sometimes, you might experience a blend of emotions. In
these cases, try to identify the primary emotion, the one that feels the most
dominant or significant.
11. Journaling: Keep an emotion journal where you record your feelings, what led
to them, and how they manifested physically. Review your journal periodically to
identify patterns in your emotional experiences.
12. Seek Feedback: Share your observations and emotions with trusted friends,
family, or a therapist. They can offer insights and confirm or challenge your self-
assessment of your emotions.
13. Mindfulness and Meditation: Practice mindfulness and meditation to become
more attuned to your emotional experiences. These techniques can help you stay
present and acknowledge your emotions without judgment.
14. Learn from Others: Read about emotions and how they are experienced by
others. This can provide you with valuable insights into the nuances of different
emotions.
Differentiating emotions is a valuable skill for emotional intelligence, self-regulation,
and effective communication. The more you practice, the better you'll become at
understanding and managing your emotional responses.