Final answer:
Cognitive therapy techniques focus on assisting individuals to dispel self-defeating cognitions and adopt a rational approach to living by challenging and modifying irrational beliefs.
Step-by-step explanation:
In cognitive therapy, the techniques are primarily designed to assist individuals in dispelling self-defeating cognitions and teaching them how to acquire a rational approach to living. This goal directly addresses option c from the question, indicating that cognitive therapy aims to challenge and modify unhelpful thought patterns or beliefs, replacing them with more adaptive and realistic ones. The therapy's techniques, developed by psychologists such as Aaron T. Beck and others, include identifying irrational beliefs, examining the evidence for and against these beliefs, and practicing new, more rational ways of thinking.
To answer the student's question specifically, cognitive therapy techniques do not primarily aim to help clients experience their feelings more intensely or to deal with existential loneliness; instead, they focus on cognitive processes that can lead to psychological distress when left unexamined and unchallenged. The approach is built on the premise that changing one's thinking can lead to changes in feelings and behavior.