Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be one of the most effective treatments for anxiety (Hofmann et al., 2012) and it has been shown to be highly effective with depression and a number of other mental health issues.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has its origins in psychology in the 1950’s with two key founders, Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck. This theoretical orientation used by many counselors and therapists is a model and lens through which providers conceptualize the origin, continuation, and perpetuation of anxiety and depression for many clients. The premise of the model operates on the notion that a great number of a person’s anxious and depressive feelings and subsequent behaviors are fueled and driven by problematic perceptions and beliefs that are often distorted, flawed, or flat out illogical and wrong.
Children are a hotbed of irrational beliefs, magical thinking, and distorted beliefs and conclusions. For instance, many a child (probably even you) once believed there was a monster living under your bed. Any parent knows it is a waste of time trying to reason with a child and help them realize that no such monster exists. As brain and cognitive development progress throughout childhood into adolescence a great many of these irrational beliefs naturally take care of themselves and are corrected all by themselves. Unfortunately, some beliefs go unchecked and follow people into adolescence and right into adulthood, becoming further cemented into the lens that people see the world through which includes themselves and others. These unchecked irrational beliefs are often ripe for fueling anxiety and depression in people. People who believe they are flawed or defective are at high risk for depression. People who are convinced they must be perfect, or face rejection, failure and ruin are likely to have a ton of anxiety. Therapists using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are always seeking to identify sets of beliefs that may be setting a client up for misery and unhappiness.
How Does CBT Work?
Counselors and therapists teach clients how to tune into their inner dialogue and pay attention to their own thoughts and beliefs, especially those that are producing anxiety and depression. Often there are themes and patterns to a person’s thinking. Many times, these irrational thoughts and beliefs play like a broken record. As you learn how to identify these thoughts, then you are taught how to examine and analyze your own thinking. Counselors will teach you how to look for evidence to support your beliefs or discover if there is not much to back up your own conclusions and beliefs. If that is the case, then more tools and skills are taught by your therapist to help you begin deconstructing and replacing these irrational beliefs with new more accurate and evidence-based thoughts that will serve you better and typically yield more happiness, self-esteem, and peace of mind.
If you are interested in counseling or therapy to help you learn more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and conquer your anxiety and depression, feel free to contact IPC so you can schedule an appointment with a counselor, social workers or psychologists. Please call us now at 763-416-4167, or request an appointment on our website: WWW.IPC-MN.COM so we can sit down with you and complete a thorough assessment and help you develop a plan of action that will work for you. Life is too short to be unhappy. Find the peace of mind you deserve.
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Innovative Psychological Consultants
- Hofmann et al. (2012). Cognitive Therapy and Research.
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