WHAT IS COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT)?
CBT is an evidence-based treatment approach that focuses on understanding and changing problematic thoughts that cause symptoms and distress.
With CBT, you and your therapist intentionally work on developing thoughts, beliefs and behaviors that you wish to cultivate to enhance your life. Cognitive behavioral therapy entails:
Learning concrete skills to help you meet your goals
The goal of CBT is to help you become your own effective therapist. Practicing skills and strategies between sessions is a core component of CBT.
You will learn cognitive skills (e.g., learning to notice and respond to unhealthy thoughts and beliefs and their triggers), behavioral skills (e.g., preparing for, and conducting exposure to experiences you avoid), and/or emotion-focused skills (e.g., learning to regulate intense emotions).
A collaborative approach
Though your therapist brings in expertise and experience, therapy calls for a very active effort on your part. In general, you can expect that every session will conclude with an action plan for the week where you will practice implementing the skills learned in the session. You will also be asked to give feedback to make sure recommendations are understandable and achievable. We want to make sure you succeed in meeting your goals!
TYPES OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY
Exposure-Based Therapies
People with anxiety experience excessive fear when facing specific places, speaking or performing in front of others, or even when noticing certain physical sensations. They may spend a lot of time worrying and avoiding these situations, which ironically contributes to these fears becoming greater and stronger over time.
Exposure work is crucial to interrupt this cycle and help people reclaim their lives. This approach is ideal to address Panic Disorder, Phobias, Social Anxiety, Illness Anxiety, and other types of anxiety.
In therapy, we come up with a plan to practice safe exposures in small steps and incorporate coping skills to help meet your goals successfully.
Trauma Interventions
Traumatic events can lead people to question their sense of safety in their relationships and communities, and to have feelings of guilt regarding their role in the trauma event. They often experience excessive physical and emotional reactions to reminders of the trauma, and may harbor feelings of fear, anger or sadness often resulting in depression and isolation from others.
Patients seeking trauma treatment first learn stabilizing skills to help them cope with difficult thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. After establishing trust and safety in their relationship with their therapist, treatment involves processing of trauma memories in the context of a safe therapeutic space. Treatment is carefully adjusted depending on the severity of symptoms and patient readiness.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
ERP is a specialized type of CBT intervention to address Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). In ERP, you conduct safe exposures to the triggers that start your obsessions, and make a choice not to engage in rituals (or compulsive behaviors) that you normally engage in.
ERP is the gold standard behavioral treatment for OCD and is tailored to the type of OCD that patients present with.
Mindfulness
Unlike the popular conception of meditation as “not thinking about anything,” Mindfulness translates to training yourself to shift your attention to the here and now. Mindfulness skills are incredible tools to learn attentional control, emotional regulation and distress tolerance, and to respond in a healthier, non-judgmental way to distressing thoughts and emotions.
The practice of mindfulness can help with stress management, the treatment of depression and anxiety, and enhance overall wellness.