Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: What It Is and How It Works

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT is a type of psychotherapy that is goal-oriented and short-term. This kind of treatment takes on problem-solving using a practical and hands-on approach.

What is the Goal of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT?

The goal behind CBT is to shift and ultimately change the patterns of behavior or thinking that become attributed to the difficulties in the lives of people. By doing this, their feelings change. Cognitive-behavioral therapy gets used to deal with a broad spectrum of problems in a person’s life, such as relationship problems, sleeping difficulties, depression, and anxiety, as well as alcohol abuse.

How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Works

It works by changing one’s behavior and held attitudes by making a focus on attitudes, beliefs, images, and thoughts that are part of one’s cognitive processes. Also, it aims to change the way these cognitive processes pertain to the person’s behavior as a method of dealing with emotional issues.

CBT as a Mixture of Behavioral and Psychotherapy Therapies

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can become conceptualized as a mixture of behavioral and psychotherapy therapies. First, psychotherapy draws emphasis on the importance of one’s meanings that an individual gives to things, and the way patterns of thinking commence during childhood.

CBT and How it Emphasizes The Interconnectedness of People's Thought, Behavior, and Problems

On the other hand, behavioral therapy emphasizes the relationship between people’s thoughts, behavior, and their problems. Many psychotherapists who practice cognitive-behavioral therapy customize and personalize the treatment to the personality and needs of each patient. It can be used to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PSTD.

What Theory is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Based On?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is based on the theory that we are upset by the events that occur themselves or ultimately by the meanings these events have to us or the meanings we give to them. Having too many negative thoughts can block us and lead us to do or even see things that are not fitting to what we believe to be factual and real.