Ever found yourself grappling with persistent negative thoughts or anxiety? If the answer is yes, you’ll know how difficult it can be to break free from this seemingly never-ending loop of negative thought patterns. For those who suffer from conditions like anxiety disorders, depression and phobias, one form of therapy has proven itself to be particularly useful.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a structured approach to therapy that helps individuals identify and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours. Over time this can improve mental wellbeing by helping the patient let go of their mental shackles.
To provide a better understanding of CBT and help you decide whether this is a treatment that could potentially help you, we put together this blog post that’ll provide all the info you need. We’ll cover key areas, explaining what CBT is, what it aims to do and the steps it takes to achieve its goals.
What is CBT?
CBT is a therapeutic approach grounded in the belief that our thoughts, feelings and behaviours are interconnected.
It’s a structured, evidence-based form of psychotherapy that seeks to empower individuals with the right tools to better understand and manage their own mental health.
Although CBT is structured, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it’s a highly adaptable and personalised approach which can be tailored to meet the patient’s needs. After all, each person is living their own unique life and the reasons for these anxieties and negative thought patterns will differ from one person to the next.
CBT is now one of the most widely practised therapeutic approaches and it helps many people finally start to change the way they look at themselves and the world around them.
The Aim of CBT
The main aim of CBT is to equip individuals with the ability to identify and modify unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours that contribute to distress and have a damaging impact on their everyday life.
As with all types of therapy, the goal is transformation – to transform the way you perceive and respond to your thoughts and emotions. By encouraging a shift from negative to constructive thoughts, this helps foster a more positive outlook to unleash the negative thoughts that are holding you back.
Who Would Benefit Most From CBT
As it’s so adaptable and CBT therapy can help combat a wide range of conditions and disorders. Those suffering from the following conditions would get the most benefits from CBT:
Anxiety Disorders
CBT is highly effective in treating various anxiety disorders, including generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and panic disorder.
Depression
This type of therapy has been extensively studied and proven itself effective in treating depression. By helping individuals recognise and modify negative thought patterns, this can promote a more positive outlook and improve mood.
People Dealing with Phobias
CBT is particularly useful for treating some phobias. It can involve exposure therapy, where individuals gradually confront their fears in a controlled and safe manner, leading to reduced phobic reactions over time.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), is one of the primary treatments for OCD. It helps individuals confront and resist compulsive behaviours and obsessive thoughts.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Individuals with PTSD can benefit from CBT as it helps them process traumatic experiences and develop healthier coping mechanisms.
People Struggling With Eating Disorders
CBT, along with other approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E), can help individuals with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge-eating disorder.
Substance Abuse
It’s often used in addiction treatment to help individuals identify triggers, develop coping strategies and prevent relapse by modifying thought patterns related to substance use.
The Main Steps in CBT
Carried out by a qualified therapist, CBT is a structured process that’s implemented over a series of sessions. Here’s a breakdown of the main steps of CBT:
Assessment and Goal Setting
The therapy would usually begin with an assessment where you and your therapist discuss your specific concerns. By gaining a clear understanding of what you want to change, you and your therapist can set goals, which lays the foundation for the work ahead.
Identifying Thought Patterns
CBT involves closely examining your thought patterns. Ove time, your therapist will coach you on recognising automatic negative thoughts (ANTs). This helps understand how thoughts can influence your emotions and behaviours.
By gaining an awareness of their interconnected nature, this lays the foundations for managing them in a more constructive way.
Challenging Negative Thoughts
Once these negative thought patterns are identified, CBT encourages you to challenge them. You’ll explore evidence that supports or contradicts these thoughts, helping you develop a more balanced perspective.
Behavioural Techniques
Although much of CBT involves challenging the way you think, that’s not all there is to it. Some of CBT involves changing the way you act, too.
Although CBT aims to train your mind to think more positively, it’s impossible to remove negative thoughts completely as we all experience gloominess from time to time. But by changing the way you react to those thoughts, you can make a positive change to your behaviour.
Homework and Practice
CBT is an active process that needs to be implemented in everyday life, not just during your therapy sessions. Applying the techniques you learn during your sessions is the best way to retrain the mind
As well as regular practice of your new skills, homework assignments may be required too. This helps give a broader understanding of the theories and the “science” behind CBT.
Monitoring Progress
Although CBT has proven itself to be a useful tool in the therapist’s arsenal, like anything else it’s effectiveness will depend on the individual. Factors that could impact CBT’s efficacy include the person’s willingness to engage in the process and the severity of their condition. In some cases a different therapeutic approach may be better.
To get an accurate gauge on the success of the CBT, you and your therapist will continuously monitor your progress to assess how much it’s helping. Keeping tabs on your progress will mean your therapist can make adjustments in strategy if they believe it’ll help you get more out of the sessions.
Relapse Prevention
Finally, CBT equips you with techniques to prevent relapse and maintain the positive changes you’ve made, ensuring long-term mental well-being.
Your therapist will work to create a relapse prevention plan. This plan should include early warning signs of negative thinking patterns and coping strategies to help nip these issues in the bud if they start to reappear.
Regular Follow-Up Sessions
Follow-up sessions at intervals will help your therapist monitor your progress and address any emerging issues promptly. These sessions can be used to reinforce positive behaviours and address any lapses in a supportive environment.
So that covers everything you need to know about CBT therapy. If you’re finding yourself being bogged down by negative thoughts, anxiety disorders, phobias or depression, CBT could be a useful tool in helping you overcome what’s holding you back.