Psychotherapy Offices of Southern Connecticut
Demystifying Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Adapted From an Article by Brooke Baron
Last Updated: 2 Mar 2024
Talk Therapies, Decoded
You’ve probably heard of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and its proven benefits for those of us living with mental health conditions. CBT aims to help people make lasting behavior changes by shifting negative patterns of thinking and behavior.
Its cousin, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), is similar but has a narrower focus on acceptance and communication. Then there’s Interpersonal Therapy— another cousin that focuses on tracking and adjusting one’s routine and on managing relationships with others. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is in the same vein.
Boiling It Down to the Basics
The standard formula for all these types of therapy is the same:
-
Identify a problem.
-
Change the way you think about that problem.
-
Behave differently to solve the problem.
None of these behavior-based approaches can take effect unless we are willing to do the “mental work” of learning more about ourselves. And that is something we must do internally. We may use a guide for assistance—such as a therapist, a program, or a workbook—but any progress in therapy comes from first changing our thinking.
CBT is not some magical witchcraft that only a licensed professional can administer; it is simply living well by thinking ahead, knowing yourself, coping, and getting things done. One might even call it “mental gymnastics.”
Redefining CBT
In practice, cognitive behavioral therapy, aka “CBT,” is about changing our behavior by changing our thoughts. So, given that we know the recipe for success (identify a problem + change the way we think about that problem + behave differently to solve the problem), we can use whatever tools we have to put this recipe together.