Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is an active, directed, evidence-based, and often time-limited treatment approach. The primary aim of this collaborative approach is to explore patterns of behavior, thoughts, or challenges in coping with internal experiences (uncomfortable thoughts, physiological experiences, or feelings) that can be changed to help a person feel better and improve overall functioning. CBT has a broad range of applications, which include:
- treatment of anxiety, depressive, and other mood disorders;
- coping issues, including environmentally-based life challenges or changes with one’s health; and
- working with patterns of behavior that people feel stuck in such as with eating disorders, addictions, trauma responses, avoidance and procrastination, interpersonal challenges, and intimacy.
Treatment often involves steps such as education on behavioral patterns and how they can be changed, data gathering in terms of when symptoms occur, readings and other information sources, and most importantly practice on the recommended skill set both in and between sessions. CBT approaches can be used with children, adolescents, and adults and tailored in a developmentally, culturally, and environmentally-sensitive fashion. This approach is useful for those who want to solve current problems through concrete skill development.