A Few Words on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

For the uninitiated, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the client changing thought patterns and core beliefs that produce negative feelings and behaviors. It has been used to successfully treat such conditions as depression, addiction, PTSD and even obsessive-compulsive disorder.

I decided to give it a try when I started experiencing physical symptoms from the stress I was under. I'd heard about CBT before, so I fired up my trusty Google machine and searched "cognitive behavioral therapy for stress". This led me to the National Stress Clinic. 

I was surprised by the amount of work I was expected to do on my own. When I went to therapy in the past, the psychologists got me to talking about my feelings and things that happened to me, but I don't remember there being a whole lot of emphasis on identifying and changing core beliefs. That's something I've never confronted before, and to be honest I was a little intimidated. 

It's working, though. I read articles containing daily lessons, then complete worksheets that have really done a lot to get me to identify toxic thought patterns that I never specifically acknowledged before. Not only that, but I'm being taught to replace the toxic thought with a positive or neutral one. Sure, when you're down, a lot of people will say "think positive!" But CBT actually teaches you how to do it. I'm in the fourth week of the program and I can already see a change in myself. I'm optimistic about recovery for the first time in a while.

And this is without the help of a counselor, even. I've been assigned one, but she's...inconsistent. And I get the feeling she copies and pastes her responses from one client to another. I'm cool with that, though, because I really seem to be doing fine on my own so far. 

I should be clear that this post isn't an advertisement for the National Stress Clinic. I can't sing their praises enough, but there are any number of places online and in real life if you decide CBT is the right course of action for you. You can even buy a book and do it on your own, although I would recommend having some form of support to keep you on track. 

But honestly, if you're ready to really change the way you think, give it a try. I never thought I could change my core beliefs about myself, and here I am doing it. Good luck!