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The human brain is a complex and wonderful place, to say the least. It can make our lives positive or negative all on its own, or with help from a slew of external forces.
There are many different treatments for issues of the mind, one of which is known as cognitive behavioural therapy.
What Is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
What Is It?
Cognitive behavioural therapy is also known as CBT, is a psychological treatment that is based on proven theories and concepts. The main premise behind the treatment is that a person’s thoughts about a particular situation can affect his or her feelings, both emotional and physical, and his actions.
When evidence-based treatment such as CBT is used, the likelihood of an issue being solved is much higher. It also helps prevent the issue from being drawn out and dwelled on unnecessarily. The chance of a relapse to the negative thoughts and behaviour is also lower.
What Problems Will It Help?
Cognitive behavioural therapy works well for a whole host of problems, including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Chronic pain
- Anger issues
- Self-esteem issues
- Addiction issues
In many different cases, cognitive behavioural therapy has been proven more effective at managing depression and anxiety than pharmaceutical treatments. People also tend to stay better with this form of treatment once the symptoms subside.
What Is Psychoeducation?
Often, the first step of the CBT process is called psychoeducation. This refers to learning more about your specific problem and different strategies people have used to overcome it in the past. Many times, just learning more information about what is happening to you is enough to trigger a healing response. With most psychological issues, patients learn that what they are experiencing is not dangerous or life-threatening, and that’s often enough to make them feel better.
Other Important Factors
Some of the other important factors that are included in standard cognitive behavioural therapy are as follows:
- Practicing exercises to help you relax your muscles.
- Slowing down breathing to help put your mind at ease.
- Identifying negative thoughts and replacing them with more balanced thinking.
- Paying close attention to your self-talk, or the way you talk and interact with yourself.
- Identifying those thoughts that make you feel bad.
- Stopping the negative thoughts in their tracks.
With continued practice and a highly trained therapist, most people can overcome their negative psychological issues without having to resort to drugs at all.
