WHAT IS CBT?
WHAT IS CBT?
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a psychosocial intervention. It is a talking
therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and
behave. It is most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, but can be useful for
other mental and physical health problems. CBT is based on the concept that events in
themselves are less important than the meanings and interpretations we attach to them –
everyone reacts to situations in a different way based on their perceptions, past
experiences and belief systems.
CBT aims to help you deal with problems that seem overwhelming in a more manageable and positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts. One is shown how to change these negative patterns to improve the way one feels. Unlike some other talking treatments, CBT deals with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past. It looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis. CBT is based on the idea that how we think (cognition), how we feel (emotion) and how we act (behavior) all interact together. Specifically, our thoughts determine our feelings and our behavior.
CBT aims to help you deal with problems that seem overwhelming in a more manageable and positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts. One is shown how to change these negative patterns to improve the way one feels. Unlike some other talking treatments, CBT deals with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past. It looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis. CBT is based on the idea that how we think (cognition), how we feel (emotion) and how we act (behavior) all interact together. Specifically, our thoughts determine our feelings and our behavior.
Therefore, negative and unrealistic thoughts can cause us distress and result in problems.
When a person suffers with psychological distress, the way in which they interpret
situations becomes skewed, which in turn has a negative impact on the actions they take.
CBT aims to help people become aware of when they make negative interpretations, and
of behavioral patterns which reinforce the distorted thinking. Cognitive therapy helps
people to develop alternative ways of thinking and behaving which aims to reduce their
psychological distress.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is, in fact, an umbrella term for many different therapies
that share some common elements. Two of the earliest forms of Cognitive behavioral
Therapy were Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), developed by Albert Ellis in
the 1950s, and Cognitive Therapy, developed by Aaron T. Beck in the 1960s.
See Dobson and Block (1988) for a review of the historical basis of cognitive behavioral
therapy