What Is CBT Used For?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most common forms of talk therapy used today — and for good reason! CBT is proven to be an effective treatment approach for a variety of mental health conditions, from anxiety to depression.
One of the main goals of CBT is to help you challenge negative thoughts. You do this by breaking down negative patterns into pieces so they’re less overwhelming. Over time, you’ll feel more in control of those negative thoughts, and you can replace them with positive ones.
If you’ve been thinking about therapy, you’ve likely at least heard of CBT. But do you know if it’s the right move for you?
Let’s take a closer look at what CBT is used for to determine how it might boost your mental well-being and your quality of life.
What Can CBT Treat?
There’s always more research to do on just about any modality of mental health treatment. However, CBT has seen success in helping with multiple conditions and issues, including:
Anxiety
Phobias
Depression
Low self-esteem
Eating disorders
Addictions
Irrational fears
The method of CBT focuses on changing negative thinking patterns. For example, if you’re dealing with anxiety, you likely have certain triggers that make your anxious thoughts worse. CBT can help you identify those triggers and change your perspective on them. You’ll break free from negative patterns holding you down and causing fear.
If you have a condition like depression, CBT can help you challenge the unrealistic thoughts that often threaten you. Instead, you’ll learn how to replace them with more realistic ones that give you hope and confidence.
Connecting Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors
One of the biggest principles of CBT is that your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors come together to influence your overall quality of life. Simply put, how you act has a lot to do with how you feel and think.
For example, if you struggle with social anxiety or even certain phobias, your fear might stem from you thinking that people don’t like you or they’re judging you behind your back. This can lead you to avoid social situations or become extremely nervous around people.
Your thoughts and feelings can even trigger actions and behaviors that feel out of your control. It’s not uncommon for people with anxiety to deal with trembling, a racing heart, and sweating. The more intense your physical symptoms become in the moment, the more anxious you’re likely to feel.
Can CBT Break the Cycle?
CBT combines cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy to not only fight back against negative thinking patterns but also change harmful behaviors associated with them.
The cognitive part of this therapy will challenge how you think about the issues causing problems in your life. You’ll learn about your source of anxiety. That can help you feel empowered once you figure out how to fight back against the root. Your therapist will help you develop healthy strategies and techniques that make it easier to understand that most negative self-talk and anxious thoughts are lying to you.
The behavioral portion of CBT will encourage you to develop more helpful and effective behaviors, depending on your areas of struggle. Using the same example as above, if you’re dealing with social anxiety, CBT can help you learn effective conversation skills that will boost your confidence in social settings.
The CBT experience is different for everyone. Finding a therapist willing to understand what you’re dealing with is important. Doing so allows you to work together to develop skills and perspectives that challenge the patterns you’ve been stuck in.
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to learn more about CBT and how it might help you.
