CBT

Cognitive Behavioral approaches focus on the bidirectional interrelationships of situations, thoughts or beliefs, emotions, physical sensations, and behaviors. In other words, CBT believes that thoughts, emotions, their physical manifestations in our body known as physical sensations, and behaviors are connected to each other, and each can influence the other while all can be influenced by the situation or the activating event.

Cognitive Therapy believes that our perception influences the emotions and behaviors and tries to elicit different layers of cognition such as Automatic Thoughts, Assumptions, and Core Beliefs; then analyze, challenge the maladaptive cognition and substitute more adaptive alternative ways of thinking. In simple words Cognitive Therapy attempts to generate new perspectives in people. On the behavioral side, CBT works on detecting the avoidance or approaching behaviors that provoke, maintain, or perpetuate difficult emotions or maladaptive thought patterns. Behavioral Therapy applies behavioral activation or behavioral exposure strategies to shape and generate target adaptive behaviors or decrease and eliminate the maladaptive behaviors.

CBT is an evidence-based approach which means research has proved it effective in treating range of mental health related issues such as depression, anxiety, and more.

CBT is known to have 3 waves during its development. The first wave was Behavioral therapy with much emphasis and focus on observing, predicting, and modifying behaviors. The second wave added cognition to the picture and focused on the relationship between the cognition including thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions with behaviors.

The second wave focuses on eliciting and analyzing the maladaptive cognitions and attempts to challenge these distorted beliefs to modify emotions and behaviors. For example, cognitive therapy will identify the Cognitive Distortions that are broad logical errors or irrational thought patterns and attempts to challenge and finally correct these errors so that people can think more realistically and rationally that will lead to feeling more balanced and regulated emotions.

The third wave adds mindfulness techniques originated in the Eastern Zen philosophy and talks about accepting the inner experience versus challenging and trying to change it. This newer perspective of CBT sees thoughts as only words entering and leaving our heads and suggests observing the inner experiences such as thoughts and emotions rather than engaging in assigning meanings, challenging, or attempting to change or avoid our experiences. For more information, please read Steven C. Hayes, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Relational Frame Theory, and the Third Wave of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies – Republished Article, Behavior Therapy, Volume 47, Issue 6, 2016, Pages 869-885.

I was trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in my education years. I also took some extra workshops and training in this field including CBT, DBT and MBCT internationally and in Canada.