Have you heard of CBT therapy, but you are not quite sure what it is? When it comes to treating depression, anxiety, addiction, phobia and host of other emotional and behavioral disorders CBT is the gold standard in treatment. Therapist and doctors the world over rely on CBT therapy to rid their patients of even the most deeply rooted problems. It can lead to long-term anxiety relief and vast improvements in a person's overall quality of life.
CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The basic principle of this method is to identify a person's irrational and distorted thoughts and thought patterns, so that they can be methodically replaced by more realistic and helpful thoughts. This is accomplished through a combination of behavior modification and cognitive therapy.
When you are participating in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy you will perform a variety of different assessments and tasks. These activities are designed to help you change your behavior, through changing your thinking. You see, CBT operates on the theory that your thoughts, beliefs and assumptions directly affect the way you feel. This in turn affects the way that you respond to challenges and events physically, mentally and emotionally.
If you think about something and that thought triggers an emotion that emotion can lead you to modify your behavior. For instance, if you have social anxiety and you are invited to a party, it is likely that you will avoid that party. You see, when you are invited you will get nervous about feeling socially awkward, you will envision yourself being there all alone with nobody to talk to. These thoughts will lead to emotions of fear, and rejection and most likely you will avoid the party. You do this because you want anxiety relief, but in reality you are reinforcing the your social anxiety.
When you take place in a CBT program whether it is a self-help program or with a therapist or doctor you are in a sense re-programing yourself. The activities you take part in teach you how to change the tape in your head and retrain your thought process. CBT programs are effective, and they are safe and natural. Taking part in this type of program will help you achieve life long anxiety relief rather than just putting a band aid on the problem with a pill.
