Has something changed? A reflection on the symptom in the three generations of cognitive behavioral therapy

Recent studies have highlighted the differences between the three generations of cognitive behavioural therapy, starting from behavioural therapy to cognitive therapy and third generation principles (Hayes et al., 2013). This article aims to describe the view of the symptom through cognitive behavioural psychotherapy models and their evolution over time. Through examples of dialogue between a therapist and his school-age patient, the theory and basic principles of behavior therapy, the development of theoretical constructs related to cognitivism, the techniques and components that connect them to the third generation and the key processes related to it are addressed. The importance of direct observation and empirical validation of symptoms, the interest in thoughts, the different levels of analysis over time and the subsequent study of the role of contextual variables emerge, expanding the epistemological basis of what is considered a symptom in the last generation of cognitive-behavioural scholars.