There are many different types of therapy. The one will we discuss in this article is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT Therapy for short.
Before we go through what CBT Therapy is, let’s go through why people consider CBT Therapy for mental health treatment.
Are you feeling sad for what seems like a long time? Perhaps you broke up with your partner, lost your job, someone you love got ill, or some other heartbreaking situation. Even though so much time passed, you still aren’t feeling any better. Things that once made you happy aren’t anymore.
You are experiencing mental illness.
The question now is…how do you overcome mental illness?
After speaking with a doctor or through of your own accord, you can seek out mental health therapy. A common modality used by therapists is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT Therapy).
Please note after speaking with your therapist during the initial appointment, they will decide if CBT Therapy is the right course of treatment.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a talk therapy that explores your thought-processing in a non-judgemental way. The goal is to help you recognize inaccurate and/or negative thinking towards certain problems and view them more clearly.
In essence, CBT Therapy helps you take control of your thoughts. Many licensed therapists, including those at Talking Works Counseling, use CBT Therapy to help our clients create change in their lives.
If you have:
- Depression
- Anxiety disorders
- Phobias
- low self-esteem
- irrational fears
- PTSD
- Sleep disorders
- Eating disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Substance use disorders
- Bipolar disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Sexual disorders
Your therapist may recommend using CBT.
How long has CBT been around?
CBT Therapy has been around since the 1960s. CBT Therapy was developed by psychiatrist Aaron Beck after seeing that many of his patients had similar negative thinking patterns.
He emphasized that how you process thoughts causes how you feel. If you constantly think bad about things, you’re going to feel bad. But he also pointed out that this way of thinking is learned, and so it can be unlearned.
CBT Techniques
In order to go about changing your thinking, CBT Therapy has a handful of techniques that can help replace your negative thoughts with encouraging ones.
Here are some popular ones:
- Thought Recording – This helps you capture negative thinking and evaluate it for a more balanced view. Thought records vary by therapist, but in essence, you write down a negative thought you have and what caused you to have that negative thought. You may even write down a number from 1-10 to determine your mood. Afterwards, you bring what you have with your therapist and they will help you see things from a different perspective.
- Journaling – Your therapist may ask you to spend a few minutes a day writing down your negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. For example, a negative thought would be: I made a mistake at work and it caused a lot of problems. The positive thought replacement could be: I make mistakes, but I am not a careless person.
- Self Talk – Instead of using negative self-talk, your therapist will ask you to challenge yourself and find positive traits about yourself.
- Positive Activities – You will schedule time for yourself to do a rewarding activity. This can be as little as watching your favorite movie/tv show, getting sushi, singing, or playing with your pet(s).
Things To Keep In Mind
Although CBT Therapy is helpful in treating your mental health, it’s not a cure.
There will be times during therapy where you will be vulnerable and need to open up in order to really see change. It takes time until you see results.
Mental Health is not linear and symptoms may return after therapy.
The goal of CBT Therapy is to help you develop coping skills so that you can handle distressing situations on your own.
Is CBT Right For You?
While you may read through this and thousands of articles trying to figure out how deal with your mental health, only your therapist will be able to answer that. During an intake appointment you will discuss your issues with your therapist and how you would like to improve. The therapist will see if CBT Therapy or another form of therapy will be the best course of treatment.
Trust the process!
Ready to Speak with a Licensed Therapist?
Call or text our office at (347) 391-4250 and we will match you with one of our many therapists. You can also look through our other services and therapists to help you with your decision.
We look forward to helping you heal.