Rédiger un PREreview

This study aims to investigate which analogical relations are perceived, elaborated, and interpreted by psychologists in the “Tree–Cognitive Model Analogy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy”, considering its implications for practice in Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology. This is a qualitative, exploratory study grounded in contributions from Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Mediated Action Theory, and Comparative Structure Models of Similarity and Difference between Vehicle and Target. Data were obtained through individual semi-structured interviews with 11 clinical psychologists working within cognitive-behavioral and contextual approaches. The results indicate that participants established correspondences between elements of the tree base-domain and the cognitive model target-domain, especially between roots/core beliefs (also called central beliefs), trunk/intermediate beliefs, and leaves/automatic thoughts, in addition to expanding the analogy with new elements and relations. It was observed that the analogical reasoning mobilized by the participants enabled the articulation of similarities, differences, and new interpretative possibilities, highlighting the flexibility of the analogical resource. It is concluded that the “Tree–Cognitive Model Analogy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy” presents mediational potential for the construction of meanings in clinical and educational contexts, especially in psychoeducational processes, configuring itself as a useful resource for the understanding and communication of abstract concepts in psychotherapy, while also indicating the need for further investigations on the topic.