Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a treatment approach that helps you recognize negative or unhelpful thought and behavior patterns.
CBT aims to help you identify and explore the ways your emotions and thoughts can affect your actions. Once you notice these patterns, you can begin learning how to change your behaviors and develop new coping strategies.
CBT addresses the here and now, and focuses less on the past. For some conditions in some people, other forms of psychotherapy are equally or even more effective. The key is that there is no one size that fits all.
Read on to learn more about CBT, including:
- core concepts
- what it can help treat
- what to expect during a session
CBT is largely based on the idea that your thoughts, emotions, and actions are connected. In other words, the way you think and feel about something can affect what you do.
If you’re under a lot of stress at work, for example, you might see situations differently and make choices you wouldn’t ordinarily make. But another key concept of CBT is that these thought and behavior patterns can be changed.
According to the American Psychological Association, the core concepts of CBT include:
- psychological issues are partly based on unhelpful ways of thinking
- psychological issues are partly based on learned patterns of behavior
- those living with these issues can improve with better coping mechanisms and management to help relieve their symptoms
