Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a common type of talk therapy used to treat various mental and physical health issues, such as depression and anxiety. The ultimate goal of CBT is to help you gain insight into how your thoughts affect how you behave and experience emotions. Moreover, CBT aims to help you deal with your feelings, thoughts and behaviours that overwhelm you by breaking them down into smaller pieces.
What is cognitive behavioural therapy?
Through talk therapy, CBT aims to break down how your unhelpful thoughts (cognitive) affect how you act (behaviour).
Unlike other types of therapy, CBT focuses on your present thoughts and beliefs that are holding you back from living your life. One fundamental presumption of CBT is that negative thoughts trap you in a negative cycle of harm/issues. Therefore, cognitive behavioural therapy challenges your automatic reactions, comparing them to reality and helping you see a situation differently.
What can you expect during a CBT therapy session?
During a course of CBT therapy sessions, you will learn to:
Develop an awareness of your automatic unhelpful thoughts
Challenge the underlying assumptions of your thoughts
Distinguish between fact and fictional thoughts
Develop a different way of seeing and reacting to stressful situations
Understanding CBT therapy with an example
How does cognitive behavioural therapy work in real life? Let’s look at someone with a dental phobia called Richard.
Richard had a painful filling a few years ago and is now too afraid to visit the dentist. His underlying belief is that all dental visits will be painful. Richard knows this may not be the case, but he cannot bring himself even to enter a dentist's office now. Richard knows he needs regular dental check-ups, so he approaches a Geelong Psychologist for assistance.
Richard and his Psychologist determined cognitive behaviour therapy would help identify and challenge his assumptions.
Richard works on distinguishing between facts (not all dental visits are painful) and his unhelpful thoughts (the dentist is terrifying). Then Richard and his Psychologist develop a plan to approach a dental visit in small, manageable steps to overcome his fear. By gradually exposing himself to the dentist, his fear and anxiety are lessened over time, eventually allowing him to get his teeth cleaned.
Geelong Psychologists using CBT
CBT is a safe and effective therapy that helps you manage your fears and symptoms to improve your overall well-being. If you are considering trying cognitive behaviour therapy, it is essential to locate an experienced Psychologist to make sure you can make lasting changes.
Contact Psychology Outcomes to learn more about how CBT can help you. Then call 0414 232 043 or email reception@psychologyoutcomes.com to schedule a therapy session.
