- Neil Colvin
It is 2023, Is CBT Therapy Right For You?
Updated: Feb 27
CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) is a type of therapy that helps you learn how to think about and deal with your feelings, as well as many other things in life. It's one of the most studied and more effective types of psychological treatment available today.
The goal of CBT is to teach the patient to identify, understand, and change negative thinking and behavior.
CBT is a type of therapy that helps people change their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. It can be used to treat anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, but it's also effective for non-psychological problems like insomnia or weight loss. The goal of CBT is to teach the patient to identify, understand and change negative thinking and behavior patterns that are causing them distress.
Two of the main tools of CBT are:
Diaries - Keeping track of your thoughts and actions every day can help you spot patterns in your own behavior over time. You might find out that certain situations always make you feel bad or behave badly even though they don't need to cause any problems at all!
Exercises - These are designed as fun games where you learn new skills through play rather than being lectured at by some boring therapist who thinks he knows everything about everything anyway (what would they know about what makes us feel happy). They usually involve drawing pictures on little cards with special markers (you might even get one if you're lucky), then talking about what these pictures mean for your life right now—and how things could be different if we all worked together towards better solutions instead of just complaining about things all day long without actually trying anything new.
It is an umbrella term for many different therapies that share some common elements.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy designed to help people change the way they think and behave.
It may be helpful if: * You want to reduce your stress, worry, fear or anger.* You have problems with anger or aggression.* You are having trouble controlling what you eat.* You want to deal with an substance misuse (such as alcohol or drugs).
The most important thing about CBT is that it’s all about YOU. Your therapist won't try to tell you what to do or how to live your life; instead, they'll give suggestions based on their experience with other people who have similar problems as yours. You should feel free and comfortable talking about anything with your therapist-- even if it seems embarrassing or weird at first! Don't worry, they're used to helping you break through those points and realize that your time together is a safe space void of ridicule and judgment. These are guided experiences and discussions over time.
It was developed in the 1960s.
The basis for CBT is that our thoughts, feelings and behaviors are all interconnected. A thought or belief can be considered “irrational” if it leads you to feel bad about yourself or has a detrimental impact on your actions. In other words, it’s not healthy to believe that you deserve something bad because of who you are (i.e., if you make a mistake) or feel abandoned by someone who is no longer in your life. The same goes for emotions; being angry at yourself because of an event in the past doesn't do anything except make things worse right now.
It focuses on ways of thinking and behaving that might keep you stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
CBT therapists help you identify these thought patterns by asking questions like "What are you thinking?" or "What are you feeling?"
CBT is not just about changing your thoughts—it's also about changing your behavior. When we do things over and over again without much success, we can become convinced that our efforts won't pay off. So instead of trying harder at something that clearly isn't working out for us (like trying to eat healthy), we give up completely (by ordering takeout).
In addition to helping clients understand how their behaviors affect their moods, CBT therapists also work with them on what they're doing right now to manage stress more effectively — whether it's finding time for exercise or taking breaks throughout the day.
CBT is based on the idea that your thoughts influence your feelings and behaviors, not external things like people, situations, and events.
For example:
If a friend cancels plans with you last minute—and then tells everyone else but not you—you might think they don't want to hang out with you anymore because they don't care about what's going on in your life anymore. These kinds of negative beliefs lead us to feel sad or mad when something doesn't go our way.
Changing these beliefs (e.g., thinking "It's probably just an emergency" instead of "They're disinterested in being friends.") will help make situations less painful for us emotionally so we can get back into balance more quickly than if we hadn't changed anything at all!
CBT is a powerful tool for dealing with some of the toughest challenges in life. It can help you deal with depression, anxiety, phobias and even substance abuse problems. CBT may not be right for everyone, but if you are struggling with these types of issues then it is definitely worth considering as an option for treatment. Why not try it at Thera-Fi? Our Therapists truly are top notch. In just a few short weeks, we'll be bringing on another expert (Sarah Steinbrecher) with limited availability, who focuses on substance misuse, anxiety, trauma and other mental health challenges. So if you're looking for help managing your moods or tackling some of those bigger issues in your life—don't wait any longer! Reach out to us today and schedule an appointment with Sarah.