Highlands,
I hope the following inforamtion is what you meant when you asked for a "road map". If not, or if you want clarification, just let me know.
The role of a CBT counselor is to work with the client to select specific goals and bring about change. The client is very involved with providing input that will determine which goals are important to them, and the ways in which change can be accomplished. The counselor is the expert on thoughts, behaviors and emotions, and serve to educate clients. The client participates by completing specific assignments intended to change thought patterns.
CBT uses specific learning experiences to help the counselor teach the client ways to monitor their negative and automatic thoughts, and seeks to teach the client the relationship between these thoughts and their emotions and behaviors. This allows the client to alter their distorted beliefs and to substitute reality based interpretations for unrealistic thoughts.
CBT is carried out in 4 basic steps. The first step is for the couselor to develop an understanding of the events in a client'sa life; that is what is happening in their environments. The second step involves setting up a way to record the client's thoughts about these events in order to understand the way they process and think about these events. In the third step, the counselor and the client work together to to identify and challenge distorted thoughts. The fourth step is the one in which the client and counselor work together to develop new ways of thinking that allows the client to act more positively and become more productive. An example of this would be, the client thinks "No one likes me." That thought would be replaced with the more realistic thought, "Some people like me and some people don't." Replacing the distorted thought with the realistic thought frees the client to interact with people from a realistic perspective, rather than reacting as if she expects not to be liked.
The following techniques are the most commonly used in CBT:
Specifying automatic thoughts: these are those thoughts (obessessions, in your case) that happen without effort. They lead to unhealthy emotional responses (the compulsive behavior). You will be asked to identify the exact wording of those thoughts and when they occur, as well as the way you respond to those obsessive thoughts.
Homework: You will be given different assignments that let you practice giving yourself different thoughts when your distorted thoughts occur. The assignments will depend on the specific situation you have. Much of the change in CBT occurs outside of the counseling session through these various assignments.
Cognitive interventions: All of the interventions focus on bringing the distorted thoughts into greater awareness so that you gain greater control over them. An example would be to challenge absolutist thinking (Something horrible will happen if I don't clean the table right this minute!)
Cognitive rehearsals: Practice makes perfect. You will be asked to rehease the changes in your thinking both prvately through your own thoughts, and publicly, in the things that you say to others.
Scriptotherapy: This is similar to keeping a journal that helps you keep tract of distorted thoughts and correct them in writing.
All of the above are carried out using a series of 4 techniques. The first is Self Instructional Traning. In this technique, the counselor will engage in appropriate behavior while they verbalize out loud for the client the self talk going on in their head about why the behavior is appropriate. The client will then be asked to repeat what the counselor has demonstrated. This teaches the client to engage in healthier self talk, and to think about what they are doing and why instead of acting impulsively.
The second techniques is Stress Innoculation Training. With this technique, clients are taught sets of coping skills that allow them to handle stress more effectively. It is preventive, much like one receives a vaccination to prevent an illness.
The third is known as thought stopping. With this technique, the client is taught the skills to recognize when the distorted thoughts are occurring, and given the skills to use self talk to stop the thoughts and replace them with more rational thoughts.
The fourth is known as Cognitive Restructuring and is the most effective of the CBT techniques. Clients are taught to identify, evaluate, and change self-defeating and irrational thoughts that negatively impact their behavior. Included in this technique are thought stopping and and stress innoculation. Cognitive restructuring is accomplished by getting clients to vocalize their self talk and then change it from negative to positive. The goal is to modify the distorted thought processes.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
I would like to see the movie when possible