What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidence based treatment where your therapist will teach you how to challenge and change unhelpful thoughts and emotions – like those that contribute to anxiety.
CBT was developed in the 1960s by Psychiatrist, Aaron Beck. Since then it has been extensively researched, and demonstrated to be an effective method to treat conditions including: depression, anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, eating disorders, and many others.
When is CBT Used?
CBT is an excellent option to use when any of the mental health conditions listed above, or even life challenges like work stress, relationship difficulty, or major life transitions start to impact your day to day life.
How does CBT Work?
CBT is a short term treatment that is focused on teaching you how to become your own therapist. It is based on the cognitive model, which puts forth the argument that situations or events do not on their own determine how we feel or react – it is our thoughts about or interpretations of the situation that determine how we feel and react.
Here is a diagram of the cognitive model based on one from The Beck Institute:
We have limited ability to change the situations we encounter, but we can change the way we think about them. That will then change the way we feel.
How can CBT Help with Anxiety?
Here’s how CBT can help you take control of your anxiety. These automatic thoughts that happen in response to situations in our lives can get out of hand fast, and can really easily contribute to anxiety.
Let’s walk through an example. You’re walking into work in the morning, and see your boss from across the lobby. You wave and say good morning, but she looks right at you and doesn’t respond. You start thinking she must be mad at you, soon you’re wracking your brain to figure out what you did, then you’re way down a rabbit hole and imagining you must be about to get fired. You are feeling some physical symptoms of anxiety like increased heart rate and sweatiness, and it becomes hard to concentrate and go about your day normally.
A situation can lead to a series of thoughts that spiral out of control quickly, and have a big impact on how you feel and act.
But what if there is another explanation? Could it be that she was distracted and didn’t see you? Perhaps she wears contacts and didn’t have them in that day?
If you’re living that example given above, and applying a CBT strategy to help take control of your anxiety, this is how it might play out. You observe that your boss doesn’t return your greeting and start to have some of those automatic thoughts. First, you notice that these thoughts are happening. Without judgment, just call it out to yourself internally. Then, consciously pause that train of thought and start to challenge those thoughts that are popping into your head. You can do that by asking yourself questions like:
- What evidence do I have that this thought is true?
- Is there another possible explanation?
- If my [friend/partner/colleague] were in this situation, what would I tell them?
This is called Socratic questioning, and it is a CBT technique your therapist might teach you to help you challenge your thoughts – which in turn changes the emotions you feel and your behavior. Socratic questioning is one of many CBT strategies you can learn in therapy to take control of your anxiety.
CBT with The Counseling Center Group
We have many therapists who offer CBT in our Maryland, New York City, Virginia, Washington, DC, New Jersey, and Florida. You can schedule a session with us here.
About the Author:
Jen Fields, LMSW
Jen’s work focuses on helping people heal from trauma, navigate anxiety, find work/life balance, and rebuild their sense of self and balance after experiencing abuse or coercive control. Jen is ...
