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Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment approach for a range of mental and emotional health issues, including anxiety and depression. CBT aims to help you identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts and to learn practical self-help strategies. These strategies are designed to bring about immediate positive changes in your quality of life. CBT can be good for anyone who needs support to challenge unhelpful thoughts that are preventing them from reaching their goals or living the life they want to live. CBT aims to show you how your thinking affects your mood. It teaches you to think in a less negative way about yourself and your life. It is based on the understanding that thinking negatively is a habit that, like any other habit, can be broken. When CBT is usefulCBT is used to treat a range of psychological problems including: Using CBT to treat anxietyEveryone feels anxious sometimes. Anxiety serves as a means of protection and can increase your performance in stressful situations. For example, the rush of anxiety that often occurs before a job interview or a big race can enhance your performance. But for some people the feeling of anxiety is more general. This means that you always feel on alert or fearful no matter what activity you are doing. This can be extremely distressing and get in the way of your daily life. If your level of anxiety begins to interfere with your ability to function, it is important that you begin to learn some skills for coping with these anxious feelings. This is where CBT can help. It focuses on changing patterns of thinking and beliefs that are associated with, and trigger, anxiety. Using CBT to treat depressionPeople with depression can have ongoing negative feelings about themselves, other people and the world around them. This negative thinking pattern can become automatic so that you don't notice when your judgement is irrational or unfair on yourself. CBT can help people with depression by giving you tools to challenge the negative thoughts and override them with more realistic and positive thought processes. CBT is also used to help many more psychological problems. In some cases, other forms of therapy used at the same time may be recommended for best results. Talk to your doctor for further information and advice. CBT and thoughts, feelings and behavioursThe main focus of CBT is that thoughts, feelings and behaviours combine to influence a person’s quality of life. For example, severe shyness in social situations (social phobia) may come from you thinking that other people will always find you boring or stupid. This belief could cause you to feel extremely anxious in social situations. This could lead to certain behaviour in social situations, such as trembling, sweating, accelerated heart rate or other uncomfortable symptoms. You could then feel overwhelmed with negative emotions (such as shame) and negative self-talk (‘I’m such an idiot’). Your fear of social situations could become worse with every bad experience. CBT aims to teach people that it is possible to have control over your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. CBT helps you to challenge and overcome automatic beliefs, and use practical strategies to change or modify your behaviour. The result is more positive feelings, which in turn lead to more positive thoughts and behaviours. CBT combines cognitive therapy and behaviour therapyCBT focuses on changing unhelpful or unhealthy thoughts and behaviours. It is a combination of 2 therapies: ‘cognitive therapy’ and ‘behaviour therapy’. The basis of both these techniques is that healthy thoughts lead to healthy feelings and behaviours. Cognitive therapyThe aim of cognitive therapy is to change the way you think about an issue that’s causing concern. Negative thoughts cause self-destructive feelings and behaviours. For example, someone who thinks they are unworthy of love or respect may feel withdrawn in social situations and behave shyly. Cognitive therapy challenges those thoughts and provides you with healthier strategies. Many techniques are available. One technique involves asking you to come up with evidence to ‘prove’ that you are unlovable. This may include prompting you to acknowledge the family and friends who love and respect you. This evidence helps you to realise that your belief is false. This is called ‘cognitive restructuring’. You learn to identify and challenge negative thoughts, and replace them with more realistic and positive thoughts. Behaviour therapyThe aim of behaviour therapy is to teach you techniques or skills to alter your behaviour. For example, a person who behaves shyly at a party may have negative thoughts and feelings about themselves. They may also lack social skills. Behaviour therapy teaches you more helpful behaviours. For example, you may be taught conversational skills that you practise in therapy and in social situations. Negative thoughts and feelings reduce as you discover you can enjoy yourself in social situations. Treatment with CBTThe details of treatment will vary according to your problem. However, CBT typically includes the following:
CBT and medicationMedication is not always needed, but consultation with your GP or a psychiatrist is always advised. CBT can be effective in the treatment of depression and anxiety. In other cases, you and your therapist may decide that medication, together with CBT, would produce the best results. For example, people with bipolar disorder usually benefit from medication that helps control their mood swings. Who provides CBT?Counsellors, psychologists, mental health social workers and therapists can all provide CBT, either in one-on-one therapy sessions, small groups or online. You are trained to look logically at the evidence for your negative thoughts, and to adjust the way you view the world around you. The therapist will provide 'homework' for between sessions. Generally, 6 to 10 sessions are required but the number will vary from person to person. More recently, a number of online programs (such as and This Way ) have been developed to deliver CBT to people in their own homes. Before choosing CBT, issues you may like to consider include:
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This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:
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