Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a structured, goal-oriented type of talk therapy. It can help manage mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, and emotional concerns, such as coping with grief or stress. CBT can also help manage nonpsychological health conditions, such as insomnia and chronic pain.

CBT is based on several core principles, including:

• Psychological issues are partly based on problematic or unhelpful patterns of thinking.
• Psychological issues are partly based on learned patterns of unhelpful behavior.
• Psychological issues are partly based on problematic core beliefs, including central ideas about yourself and the world.
• People experiencing psychological issues can learn better ways of coping with them. This can help relieve their symptoms and improve their mental and emotional health.

What conditions can cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treat?

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a valuable tool for treating and managing a wide range of mental health conditions and emotional challenges. People of all ages (including children) can receive CBT.

Therapists and psychologists use CBT to treat many mental health conditions, including:

• Depression.
• Anxiety.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Phobias.
• Personality disorders.
• Eating disorders, including bulimia, anorexia or binge eating disorder.
• Substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder.

When combined with medication, CBT is useful in treating bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Studies have shown that CBT is also effective in helping manage nonpsychological medical conditions, including:

• Insomnia.
• Fibromyalgia and other causes of chronic pain.
• Chronic fatigue syndrome.
• Migraines.
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

CBT can help people work through everyday challenges and life changes, too. You might seek help for issues such as:

• Relationship issues.
• Divorce.
• Problems at work.
• Grief.
• Adjusting to a new life situation or medical condition.
• Stress and coping difficulties.

When should you try CBT?

CBT may be a good therapy choice if you’re looking for something that focuses on your current problems rather than those that happened in the past.

CBT is a short-term therapy that requires active involvement. Meeting with a therapist can help you identify your therapy goals and discover whether CBT or its subtypes are the right choice for your particular situation. Contact me to get started.