Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a popular research-based intervention to help treat anxiety, depression, relationship problems, alcohol and drug problems and more. It works by helping the individual work on their problems by helping change thoughts, behaviors and feelings that surround their problems. There’s an analogy that I like to use – say you live in a house that needs some work; perhaps a lot of work. You could wake up in the morning and say “I hate this house, its awful, there’s so much work to be done, it looks bad”, etc – on another morning you could wake up in that same house and say “I am so grateful that I have a roof over my head, with running water and heat, I know there’s people living on the street and I have a bed to sleep in.” The takeaway: in both those scenarios the house is in the same condition. Feast or famine, good or bad, positive or negative, has little to do with the facts of the situation and more to do with our perspective, our reactions and are expectations of ourselves and others. We have to change our actions, beliefs and ideas to get to a better place more often that changing the actual situation. CBT is said to work quickly and on a variety of issues people deal with. CBT aims to help you deal with overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts. You’re shown how to change these negative patterns to improve the way you feel.