What is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the integration of behavioral and cognitive theories and based on the premise that how we think affects how we feel and behave. If individuals are distressed, they may perceive a given situation in a negative light, which in turn impacts how they feel and react to their circumstances. Over time, a person may habitually engage in negative thinking patterns that exacerbate negative mood states, including those associated with anxiety and depressive disorders, and result in maladaptive behaviors. The goal of CBT is to help people identify common thinking errors or cognitive distortions and challenge them so that they can develop alternative beliefs and respond in more healthier ways to their circumstances.
Who can benefit?
Several studies have shown CBT to be highly effective in the treatment of depression, anxiety, phobia and panic disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and marital difficulties. If you ruminate or worry, catastrophize, or assume the worst will happen frequently and this causes you to respond in ways that are not helpful by becoming irritable with or withdrawn from the people that you care about, then you could benefit from learning new tools to identify and change negative thinking habits.
What do sessions look like?
The first few sessions involve an assessment period in which we work together to pinpoint the types of thinking patterns that influence your behaviors and emotions. We then establish which areas are causing you the most distress and develop treatment goals based on this information, so that you can begin adjusting your approach to everyday situations. In subsequent sessions, we will identify situations that trigger negative thoughts and feelings, along with the cognitive errors that commonly occur in these contexts, including catastrophizing, (thinking the worst-case scenario is likely to occur), all-or-none thinking, (believing only one of two extremes can happen), and personalization, (perceiving that you alone are responsible for the outcome of an event). I will teach you how to dispute, challenge, and reframe distorted thoughts so that you can develop more balanced viewpoints and approach future situations in a healthier way.