Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has been around for over fifty years now, and has established itself as the treatment of choice for a whole host of emotional and mental health problems. It is a straight-forward and practical way to address emotional problems, and progress is usually made quite quickly (no years of therapy here!)
At the core of CBT are two ideas – that the way we think affects our mood (this is the “Cognitive” aspect), and that the way we behave affects our mood (this is the “Behavioural” aspect).
CBT aims to help people identify the ways in which their thinking is causing their emotional problems. Everyone has particular thinking styles (ways in which they habitually “see” the world) which can colour their memories, experiences, and views of their future. CBT helps people to spot their unhelpful thinking styles and learn more rational and helpful ways of thinking. This in turn protects against emotional difficulties.
CBT also helps to address the behavioural aspect of emotional problems. All emotional problems have associated behaviours, or ways of acting, that make things worse in the long run. For example, somebody suffering from social phobia is likely to avoid social situations – the effect of this will be that they’re social phobia was become more severe. CBT aims to help a person identify the ways in which their behaviour is exacerbating their problems, and then to help the person engage in more helpful activities.
As you can see, CBT is not rocket science! What it is though is a practical, time efficient and (most importantly!) effective way of understanding your emotional problems and doing something about them.
CBT can help with:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- OCD
- Social Anxiety or Phobia
- Confidence Issues and Low Self-Esteem
- Anger Problems
- Jealousy and Relationship Difficulties
- Difficulty Managing Emotions
- Excessive Guilt