Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes breaks down CBT's four P's: predisposing factors (your vulnerabilities), precipitating factors (what triggered it now), perpetuating factors (what keeps it going), and protective factors (your strengths). She shows how anger after partner conflict fits the framework and why building coping skills matters.
Welcome to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Nuggets. I'm your host, Dr. Donnelly Snipes. In this video we're going to be talking about the four P's of problem conceptualization. When you experience a problem, it is helpful to really step back and examine the problem with a larger lens. And these four P's can help you do that. So when something happens and you get upset, let's say you got get into a fight with your significant other, okay, so that's the problem, and you feel angry about that. What are the predisposing factors that are contributing to this? What core factors about you, based on your prior experiences and your personal characteristics, might have contributed to, to your reaction in this situation? You know, some people may go through the similar situation and it's not a big deal for them, but you got angry. So what personal characteristics might be contributing to that? Maybe you have a high standard for yourself and for others and you expect perfection out of everybody. And a lot of times people fall short of that and that triggers your anger. So that could be a personal care characteristic of you, that type, a high strung personality that might have contributed to this situation. Precipitating factors are your vulnerabilities and these are things that are present in the moment that made you more likely to react strongly to pretty much anything that came your direction. Maybe you were sick, you were in pain, you were over tired, you were too hyped up on caffeine, or you were drunk. Whatever the case may be, precipitating factors are things that are going on right now that made you react more strongly to this situation than you might normally have. The third P Are your P perpetuating factors once you get angry? You know, anger is a perfectly normal feeling and it tells us that there might be a threat. And we should use our energy to evaluate whether there is a threat and to do something. But once you have evaluated the threat, you've gotten safe and you've done what you can to address the situation. If you're still holding on to that anger or fear or distress, then we want to look at what's reinforcing that, what things are telling you that it is worth your energy to hold on to this anger and explore those and see if they're really useful. You know, if I, if I let go of my anger, then I'm going to be taken advantage of. Well, is that actually accurate? Another thing that can go along with the perpetuating factors are what I call skill or resource deficits. Sometimes, you know, we'll use anger as the example here, people get angry and they may not have the skills and tools to de escalate. They may not know how to calm themselves down. We aren't born with coping skills. We aren't born with self soothing skills. So if you aren't taught those, you may have difficulty self soothing and downregulating after you get upset. And that's important to know. Those skills can be learned. But it's important to know that hey, I need to learn them. And the fourth p are your protective factors. So in this situation, what are your strength that are going to help you deal with this situation? That are going to keep you safe, that are going to help you cope? And you can look at your coping skills. You can look at your personal resources, your friends, your family. You can look at times when you've been through similar situations and have emerged successfully and look at what you did then. So look at your personal strengths that are going to help you deal with the situation at hand. A lot of times when we feel distress, it's because we feel powerless. And this last thing, these protective factors. Focusing on your strengths helps you find your power. So you're understanding how your personal characteristics, your predisposing factors impact the way you initially react to a situation. You're exploring how things that are going on in the present moment may make you more vulnerable to an excessively strong reaction. You're going to continue to evaluate the perpetuating factors. Why do are you continuing to feel angry or anxious or depressed? Is there something reinforcing that? Is there something telling you it's beneficial to hold on to this anger? If so, it's important to explore what that might be and how you might be able to address it. Or are you continuing to stay upset because you don't have the skills to. Or you're not calling on those skills. Maybe you have them, but you're not using them to de down regulate, to de escalate yourself? And finally, where's your power in this situation? What protective things do you have? What strengths do you have that will help you deal with this situation?
