The NHS defines CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy as ‘a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave.’
CBT is most commonly practiced by those suffering from depression and anxiety. However, it can be used to treat a variety of mental health conditions including bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, eating disorders and insomnia, to name a few.
Even if you don’t suffer from a mental illness, CBT can still be incredibly useful to improve your wellbeing. Mental health is a spectrum and can always be improved. Indeed, many of us struggle with sub-clinical anxiety. This is when you are suffering anxiety and is not yet developed enough to be considered a full-blown mental illness, but still, negatively affects your wellbeing.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
In simple terms, CBT sees your negative thoughts, feelings, and actions as interconnected. These patterns can repeat themselves in a vicious cycle of negativity.
CBT sessions are designed to reveal how negative thought patterns are inhibiting you from achieving your best potential — whether that be in your career, personal relationships or overall happiness — and teach you how to manage them.
The foundation idea is that the events are not the problem, rather how we think and react to them. Perhaps you had an absent mother. In this case, “my mother left me” is not a problematic thought. However, this may be accompanied by a core belief, such as “I’m not worthy of love” or “I’m not good enough”. You may subsequently allow your friends to treat you poorly because deep down you don’t believe you deserve better, but this belief is often subconscious.
A CBT therapist will help you identify these subconscious thoughts through thought tracking. Once you have tracked your thoughts, you can start to engage in what is called ‘thought stopping’: stopping negative and irrational thoughts in their tracks.
Essentially, by using logic we can identify and tackle false beliefs, thereby improving our emotions and our behaviour.
CBT IS GOAL ORIENTATED AND ACTION-FOCUSED.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, CBT is more action-focused. CBT therapists work more closely with a client to change specific behaviours or thought patterns — they focus on directing a client. On the other hand, traditional talk therapy (or counseling) is less directive. The therapist focuses on listening — and expressing empathy, encouragement, aimed at helping the client understand themselves better and find their own solutions.
Whether CBT is right for you depends on your own sensibility. Some of us prefer to problem-solve our issues, whereas others emotionally recover through feeling understood and heard.
CBT may be particularly useful for men. Generally speaking, men prefer to problem-solve in the present, rather than talk about the past. As Aaron Rochen, professor of psychology at the University of Texas explains, classical forms of therapy may be unattractive so some men who, he says, “go running for the doors if you ask them about their feelings and their mothers in the first five minutes”. As men are less likely to seek help and three times more likely to die by suicide than women, the growth and promotion of CBT could help curb this unfortunate trend.
Of course, exceptions are plenty. There are many women who are problem-solvers and men who crave being heard and understood — it is all about personal preference.
CBT CURBS CATASTROPHIZING
We all catastrophize now and again. For example, you may have had an important meeting with a client and your train was delayed. You start to think you’ll be late, your boss will get angry and you may even get fired. You scramble off the train and you start rushing to your meeting. Your palms start to clam up with sweat, your heart rate rises, and you’re irritable. So, what do you do? You lash out on the 12-year-old girl in front of you because she walks…way…too…slow.
But then you end up arriving at the meeting 5 minutes early, or the client is late too, or you do arrive late but everyone is understanding and reacts calmly. Happy ending — right? Not quite. Your stress levels have shot up and your mood has dragged down all because of an assumption — not a reality.
When this catastrophizing occurs on a regular basis it can have a significant impact on our wellbeing. For those working in high-pressure environments, CBT can help you respond better to stress — to keep calm, understand your thoughts, and react more rationally.
CBT IS SHORT-TERM
One of the downsides, or benefits (depending on how you look at it) of CBT, is that it is distinctly short-term. The number of meetings you attend range from 5 to 20, though the latter is exceptional. Similarly, the sessions themselves are shorter, ranging from 30 to 60 minutes long. This can help you deal with issues in bite-size chunks, making them more manageable.
Unfortunately, not all issues can be dealt with over a short period of time. Problems stemming from our past such as physical and emotional trauma or low self-esteem are often better suited to long-term therapies since they are more deeply entrenched and complex. Indeed, it is not uncommon for CBT to be used in conjunction with more traditional talk therapy.
IT CAN BE EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTING
One of the perceived downsides to CBT is that it can be emotionally exhausting. Whilst CBT is based on logic and action, it still requires you to speak about and confront your feelings. In the long run, it can help foster healthier emotions, better relationships and even increased productivity. However, in the beginning, it can feel draining. Like many practices that are good for our physical health, such as cutting down on sugar, we may feel worse before we feel better. However, not confronting issues because they are uncomfortable can be incredibly damaging in the long-run. “Avoid your feelings and bottle them up”, said no psychologist ever.
That being said, it is important to take emotional energy into account. Indeed, the process can be made easier by waiting for a less-busy period or scheduling your sessions at weekends or at the end of the day to allow yourself some time to rest after some serious unpacking.
CONCLUSION
CBT is a great tool for improving your personal wellbeing. If you suffer from a mental illness or are just feeling particularly low, anxious or stressed recently it could help prevent more serious mental health issues further down the line. This article can help you decide whether it is right for you, however, you won’t truly know until you have tried it out.
Luckily, it has become increasingly accessible on the NHS, but it is not always necessary to have a therapist. Many people practice CBT at home or from work. Seth J. Gillihan’s Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Made Simple is highly recommended for beginners and is also available as an audiobook. If books aren’t for you, there are numerous online resources that can help get you started.
Why not give it a go?
