How it Works: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the most well-researched interventions used by therapists today. The evidence base for CBT is enormous and has shown that it is useful for a wide array of issues, from anxiety to drug and alcohol use disorders to relationship problems. If you’re curious about whether or not it might be something to talk to a therapist about, read on for information about how CBT works.
The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) model is built on the idea that our perception of life is just as influential to our wellbeing as our actual lives. In other words, the way we feel and function is impacted not only by what happens to us, but also by our perception, including our assumptions, beliefs, and thoughts. Our perception is shaped by a host of influences, such as how we were raised, social norms, and our own unique fears and desires, which can become problematic if we are taught things that are untrue or unhelpful.
Over time, our perception can result in conditioned responses to certain situations. Our brains are always on the lookout for repetition, and when a similar situation arises, we tend to react to it with thoughts and behaviors that we have used before. For instance, if a child has the repeated experience of feeling abandoned, they may grow up to subconsciously avoid intimate relationships due to the underlying belief that people will eventually run off and leave them stranded. These automatic thoughts and responses can create problems if our thinking is distorted or based on old information that is no longer relevant or useful. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy provides tools for overcoming these automatic responses, such as the “Catch – Challenge – Change” technique:
Catch – Become aware of your common thought distortions, such as catastrophizing, minimizing, blaming, comparing, mind-reading, all-or-nothing thinking, or hostility bias
Challenge – Challenge negative or distressing thoughts – “Is this true, is this useful?”
Change – Replace distorted thoughts with new and true ideas – “Everything is going to be ok
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a powerful intervention that you can practice with a licensed therapist to challenge and rebuild your thoughts and beliefs. Working on skills in this domain can help you align your perspective with reality and release you from old or distorted thoughts and reactions that may be inhibiting your true happiness.
For more on CBT:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, The Mayo Clinic, 2020.
The empirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses (Butler, A., Chapman, J., Forman, E., & Beck, A.), Clinical Psychology Review, Volume 26, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 17-31, ISSN 0272-7358, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2005.07.003.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?, The Beck Institute, 2017.
