What is cognitive behavioral therapy?

CBT is recognized as a “present-focused” approach, yet it doesn’t ignore the person’s overall past history entirely. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a therapeutic approach that has been exhibited to be successful in treating a range of mental health and behavioral issues such as phobias, depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol, and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. A myriad of research has shown that CBT prompts great improvement in functioning and the overall quality of life. For some people, CBT tends to have long-lasting results that are more effective than any other form of psychological treatment or psychiatric medication.

CBT is based on several core principles, and strategies to change thinking patterns such as:

• Helping you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave.
• Providing you with better ways of coping with problems, thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in your daily life.
• Learning how to spot your distortions in thinking and how to become more realistic by breaking down your thoughts to its simplest form.
• Gaining a better understanding of other people’s motivation and behavior. 
• Using effective problem-solving skills to cope with adversity.
• Facing your fears gradually instead of avoiding them.
• Using role-playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
• Using various techniques to calm your mind while in distress.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a collaborative approach between the psychologist and the client. Not all of these strategies mentioned above will be used within CBT as every person has his/her own unique situation. Rather, the psychologist and patient/client work together, in a collaborative fashion, to develop a treatment strategy.

Unlike psychoanalysis, CBT is focused on the individuals present, rather how their past has impacted their current situation. The psychologist still needs a decent amount of information about the person’s history to understand the person’s personality and character, but this information will be used as a tool to enhance the individual’s current state by developing more effective ways of coping with life.