What is Cognative Behavioral Therapy?

I am a proponent of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT, and I am often asked to explain what that means. Although it is difficult to do it in four paragraphs or less let me give it a shot.

CBT is effective because it teaches the client to modify patterns of thinking which affect behavior. CBT is a straight-forward therapy which is designed to alert the client to self-defeating ways of thinking. This type of therapy focuses on the client's negative self-talk, and offers practical suggestions on how to re frame one's thinking to make it more adaptive. The CBT therapist assists the client in thinking more rationally by examining the individuals nonsensical thoughts, observing ways in which they may distort reality, and reducing the amount of assumptions or beliefs that negatively affect their ways of thinking and behaving.

Homework is an integral part of therapy, patients will be encouraged to complete exercises designed to change negative thinking. A typical assignment is to help the client to identify current troubling events, negative self-talk, and ways of rationally responding to situations sited. Then, during the week, the client journals about difficult situations, identifies self-defeating thinking and refutes the negative thought processes with more rationally adaptive way of responding to events. The journal is often reviewed in the next session.

With CBT, clients are in control of their own progress. They are aware of the process that is necessary for change, and diligently work at modifying faulty thought patterns. Therapeutic progress is easily monitored through self-inventories and patient feedback.

Individuals with anxiety, addictive patterns and depressive disorders are particularly well suited to benefiting from this from of treatment. The good news is that many behavioral health disorders can be treated successfully through cognitive-behavioral therapy. NACBT or The National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is a good resource for locating counselors who are sufficiently trained, certified, and specialize in this treatment approach.