COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY AND ITS INFLUENCES ON THIRD-WAVE THERAPIES

Abstract

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has established itself over the last decades as one of the most effective and empirically validated psychotherapeutic approaches. Its historical trajectory reveals a continuous process of theoretical and methodological evolution, culminating in the so-called third-wave therapies, also known as contextual or process-based therapies. This article aims to analyze, through a bibliographic review, the influences of CBT on third-wave therapies, highlighting the conceptual continuities and ruptures between the generations of behavioral and cognitive therapies. The methodology adopted was a qualitative bibliographic review of indexed articles and relevant national and international publications. The results indicate that third-wave therapies, while maintaining the principles of traditional CBT, introduce a broader perspective, focused on context, acceptance, and the individual's personal values, prioritizing the promotion of psychological flexibility and functional psychological processes. It is concluded that CBT was crucial for the emergence of third-generation therapies, influencing their foundations, but that these differ by expanding the focus from cognitive change to comprehensive well-being and psychological flexibility.