What Is Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) ?
Cognitive behavior therapy CBT) is a short term, structured and evidence-based form of therapy for adults or children. There are hundreds of clinical trials that have shown its success with depression, trauma and anxiety. CBT is also effective for treating Autism, Behavior problems, ADHD, Anger management problems, bipolar disorder, among other mental health disorders. How does CBT work? CBT helps you look at your thoughts, and understand how your thoughts affect your feelings and behaviors. Here is an example.
How it Can Help…
Can you relate to either of these two students who are about to take a test? The first student has grown up in a safe and supportive environment. As s/he sits waiting for the test s/he thinks: “I’m smart”, “I am successful”, “I got this!”. These thoughts make him/her feel strong, confident, energetic. This person is likely to do his/her best work during the test! In contrast, the second person has grown up in a hyper-critical, unsafe, unsupportive environment. As this person waits for the test s/he thinks “I’m stupid”, “I’ll never amount to anything”, “I’m going to fail this test”. These thoughts make the person feel weak, hopeless, helpless. This student will not do his/her best work during this test, and may become depressed. These examples illustrate how our thinking patterns can influence how we feel. Cognitive Behavior therapists focus on this.
Cognitive Behavior Therapists have found that repeated negative thoughts, unhelpful thoughts, and critical judgements (ex: “I’m stupid”), can cause repeated emotional pain that can lead to mental-health problems. Most mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, Autism and Schizophrenia,can be caused, or worsened by such unhelpful and judgmental thinking. A cognitive behavior therapist will help you with this.
What does a cognitive Behavior therapist do to help you? A cognitive behavior therapist is trained to help you identify your thinking patterns (ie: become a thought detective). He/she will help you see if you like how your thoughts make you feel, of if you don’t. If your thoughts are making you feel bad, the therapist will work with you to check the accuracy of your thoughts. The person in the story above might discover with the therapist’s support, that he/she has information that actually proves s/he is not stupid and that s/he usually passes tests and does well. S/he may realize that his/her thinking patterns come from past experiences, and need an update!