Cognitive behavioural therapy.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, If you ever feel overwhelmed with things that life throws at you, it is important to understand that everyone at some time or another is going through or has gone through similar experiences as you. If and when you encounter issues ranging from work stress to difficult relationships with family or friends, it is easy to find fault with yourself which leads to self esteem issues, depression or a feeling of hopelessness.
Before you spiral into a pit of despair, it may be worth considering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
What is CBT and how does it work?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a talking based therapy that focuses on how you think (cognitive) and subsequently how you then react (behavioural) to various situations or interactions with people. It aims to discern your preconceptions (or misconceptions) associated with events that occur and show you alternative ways to think about them.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy specifically focuses on issues you are experiencing now, not looking at issues from the past.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help you see problems that come up in your life in different ways. It shows you ways to break seemingly large overwhelming problems into smaller, more manageable parts. These parts are the progression of your reactions to an event as follows:
- Event
- Thoughts
- Emotions
- Physical reaction/feelings
- Actions
Depending on what happens in each of these reactions can affect the others. They are all connected. If you specifically think one thing, it has the knock on effect of how you’ll emotionally react and so on. CBT enables you to identify how you think about things and also how your behaviour reinforces the way you think.
When you think the same negative things when something happens or when you interact with someone, you are essentially destined to react and feel bad over and over again. It is sometimes termed as the ‘vicious circle’. CBT helps you identify these negative thoughts and combat them to break this vicious circle. Once you have identified the trigger thought, you can begin to change they way you think and then the way you behave as a result.
How many CBT sessions will I
need?
While cognitive behavioural therapy can be short term if the presenting issues are not complex, an initial consultation with a qualified therapist will determine how many sessions are needed.
How do I know if Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the therapy for me?
CBT has been known to help with a vast array of mental health issues including anxiety, depression, various phobias, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If you feel you have any of these problems, CBT may be the therapy that’s right for you.
What’s next?
Depression and anxiety are unpleasant and can affect your ability to function and enjoy life. At Save Therapy, your therapist will conduct an initial assessment to determine if CBT is the right therapy for your needs and answer any questions you may have. Your therapist will then schedule sessions of approximately 50 minutes with you for a number of weeks to help you work on your thoughts and behaviours to combat your feelings of unease, anxiety or depression.
If you feel comfortable doing so, your therapist may be give you ‘homework’ such as keeping a diary of your experiences to help you identify what and how things affect you; or practising any changes that you have identified that you can make to your actions/reactions. You will never be forced to do something you don’t want to do.
Cognitive behavioural therapy is not a quick fix but it can help you in the future to deal with difficult situations and how you react to them.
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