Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of therapy that focuses on solutions, encouraging patients to challenge distorted cognition and their ways of thinking. CBT rests on the idea that thoughts and perceptions influence your behavior. Feeling distressed, in some cases, may distort one’s perception of reality. CBT aims to identify harmful thoughts, assess whether they are an accurate depiction of reality, and if they are not, employ strategies to challenge and overcome them. [1]

The American Psychologist Association note that Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is based on a number of beliefs, including the following:

• Unhelpful ways that people think can lead to psychological problems.

• If people learn unhelpful behavior, this, too, can lead to psychological issues.

• People can learn more beneficial ways of thinking and behaving.

• New habits can relieve symptoms of mental and physical conditions and allow people to act in better ways. [2]

Treatment

CBT treatment also usually involves efforts to change behavioral patterns. These strategies might include:

• Facing one's fears instead of avoiding them.

• Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.

• Learning to calm one's mind and relax one's body. [3]

As you can see, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy outperforms most other treatments for most anxiety disorders. Some disorders appear to respond better to medication than CBT, however, what the graph does not show is the high relapse rate associated with discontinuing medication (In one study, 95% of patients relapsed upon discontinuation of medication). In contrast, CBT treatments have the lowest relapse rates of any psychological treatment. [4]

The tools emplyed in CBT—which include learning to identify and dispute unrealistic or unhelpful thoughts and developing problem-solving skills—have been used to treat a broad range of mental health concerns. CBT is now considered to be one of the most efficacious forms of talk therapy, especially when clients incorporate these strategies into the routines of their daily life. This type of therapy is favored by many clients of all age spans, as it can require fewer therapy sessions than other modalities. [3] This will all differ on the individuals progress. Remember, every individual is different.

While CBT has high success rates and is most commonly used in behavioral therapies, if you have questions about other types of therapy, please feel free to mention so in our introduction session.

[1]Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/cognitive-behavioral-therapy
[2]FNP, K. D. (2018, September 25). Cognitive behavioral therapy: How does CBT work? Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/296579.php
[3](n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/cognitive-behavioral
[4]How effective is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2019, from http://cogbtherapy.com/how-effective-is-cbt-compared-to-other-treatments