Cognitive Theories

Cognitive theories of anxiety also illustrate how theory is applied to develop

a treatment. There are many different cognitive models of anxiety, but all

are similar in that they assume that there is a cognitive cause of the fear

state. This cognitive step is sometimes called an irrational belief. A cognitive

theorist might explain Little Hans’s fear in the following way: Hans is afraid

of horses because he has some irrational belief that horses are dangerous.

The specific belief might be “The horse will bite me” or “The horse might

get spooked and run into me” or even “Horses have germs, and if I go near

one, I’ll catch its germs and get sick.” The theory assumes that anxiety will

stop when the irrational belief is eliminated. Thus, a cognitive therapist

would first carefully question Hans to find out the specific irrational belief

causing his fear. Once that is determined, the therapist would use persuasion,

logical reasoning, and evidence to try to change the belief. (Little

Hans was used here only to continue with the same example. A therapist

probably would not try to reason with a five-year-old, and a different treatment

would be used. Cognitive therapies are more commonly used with

adults.)