What is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is the name for a group of related techniques that treat mental disorders by combining the techniques of behavior and cognitive therapy.Behavior therapy works from the assumption that most mental disorders can be interpreted as patterns of behavior that cause you problems. The core techniques of behavior therapy condition you to avoid negative actions and teach you to engage in positive ones, reducing over time the frequency and severity of whatever symptoms you are experiencing.Cognitive therapy, on the other hand, sets out to modify your beliefs, expectations, and thinking style, assuming that psychological problems often occur because of distorted perceptions of reality and erroneous thinking. You might have heard that cognitive therapies work to silence a phenomenon called negative self-talk: a critical, ruminating voice that runs in your head, reinforcing untrue beliefs like “I am worthless” and “I am unlovable.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a type of therapy that helps you to learn to identify unhealthy, negative beliefs and behaviors and replace them with healthy, positive ones. The premise of this therapy is that your own thoughts determine how you behave. Even if you are in a challenging situation, you can change the way you think and behave in a positive way.
A. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) emphasizes the role of thinking in how we feel and what we do. CBT stresses the fact that thoughts, rather than people or events, cause our negative feelings. CBT is a structured collaboration between therapist and client and often calls for homework assignments. Brief and time-limited, CBT includes rational emotive behavior therapy and cognitive therapy.
