Learn About CBT
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps people replace unhelpful ways of thinking and behaving to improve their mental well-being. CBT is an evidence-based approach that can help treat numerous mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and more. Here, you’ll find helpful resources to explore the benefits and techniques of CBT.
Introduction to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Key Terms
CBT teaches that how we think affects how we feel and act. By identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts, people can improve their emotions and behaviors.
CBT helps people learn practical skills like how to challenge negative thoughts, face fears gradually, or improve communication. These tools can be used long after therapy ends
Instead of digging deeply into the past, CBT mostly focuses on current thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are causing problems now.
CBT focuses on helping people set and achieve specific goals, like reducing anxiety or improving mood, through active problem-solving.
CBT sessions follow a clear plan and usually last for a set number of weeks, making it more structured than many other types of therapy.
FAQs
What is CBT, and how is it different from other therapies?
CBT focuses on how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact. It’s typically structured, short-term, and skills-based compared to more insight-focused therapies.
Does CBT actually work?
Yes. It’s one of the most extensively researched therapies, shown to be effective for many mental health concerns.
Do I need a professional to do CBT, or can I learn it on my own?
A therapist helps you tailor CBT strategies, but many self-help tools and CBT apps can supplement or provide a starting point.
Videos
Core Principles & Techniques
Key Terms
These are unhelpful and inaccurate thinking patterns, like “all-or-nothing” thinking or catastrophizing. Cognitive distortions often come up due to anxiety, depression, or stress. In CBT, learning to recognize them is the first step to changing how you feel.
Cognitive restructuring is a core CBT skill where you examine negative thoughts and replace them with more realistic, balanced ones.
These are deeply held views like “I’m a failure.” CBT helps uncover and gently challenge these beliefs when they lead to emotional pain.
Automatic thoughts are quick, often negative thoughts that happen without you realizing. CBT teaches how to catch and question these thoughts to improve your mood.
Behavioral activation is a technique that helps you increase enjoyable or meaningful activities, which can lift mood and reduce depression, especially when you feel stuck or unmotivated.
Used in CBT for anxiety, exposure is gradually facing what you fear so your brain learns it’s not as dangerous as it seems. Exposure can be uncomfortable at times, but very effective
A worksheet used in CBT to track situations, thoughts, feelings, and evidence. It helps you practice new ways of thinking by noticing your emotional experiences and challenging your thoughts in a structured way.
CBT includes tasks to practice skills between sessions, helping you apply what you learn in real life.
Specific Types of CBT
Key Terms
Traditional CBT focuses on changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors through structured sessions and practical tools. Much of the focus is on identifying distorted thinking that can keep people feeling down or anxious, and replacing distortions with more balanced perspectives.
Used for anxiety and OCD, ERP helps people face fears gradually without doing their usual coping behaviors. By facing rather than avoiding fears, ERP helps the brain learn that it can tolerate discomfort and that feared situations are not as frightening as they may seem.
DBT combines principles of CBT with mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance skills. It was originally developed to treat Borderline Personality Disorder, but is effective for many conditions that involve intense emotions or unhelpful coping, like self-harm.
ACT teaches people to accept difficult thoughts and focus on values-based actions rather than fighting emotions. ACT also uses mindfulness techniques and guides people to more flexible, present-focused, nonjudgmental perspectives.
Trauma-focused CBT is designed to help children, teens, and families process trauma and build coping skills in a safe, supportive way. After building healthy coping skills, the child or teen builds up to creating and sharing a narrative of their traumatic experience. This helps them process their feelings in a new way.
CBT for Mental Health Conditions
FAQs
Can CBT help with anxiety?
Yes. CBT is one of the most effective treatments for anxiety. It helps people learn to understand their anxious thoughts, face fears gradually, and feel more in control.
Can CBT help with depression?
Absolutely. CBT teaches people with depression how to challenge negative thinking patterns and start doing small, meaningful activities again to boost mood.
Is CBT used for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?
Yes, especially a type called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). It helps people face scary thoughts without doing the habits or rituals that usually follow.
Does CBT help with PTSD or trauma?
Yes. Trauma-Focused CBT is designed to help children, teens, and families process trauma in a safe way. For adults, CBT for PTSD can also help reduce symptoms.
Can CBT be used for eating disorders?
Yes. CBT is often used to treat conditions like binge eating disorder and bulimia. It helps people understand how their thoughts and behaviors around food are connected and how to build healthier patterns.
CBT for Other Common Concerns
FAQs
Can CBT help with stress?
Yes. CBT teaches skills to manage stress more effectively, like calming your thoughts, setting priorities, and solving problems instead of feeling overwhelmed.
What if I’m feeling burned out from school or work?
CBT can help by identifying unhelpful thought patterns, teaching time management, and helping you set healthy boundaries to avoid burnout and recover energy.
Can CBT help with anger issues?
Yes. CBT helps people understand what triggers their anger and teaches ways to think differently, stay calm, and express feelings in a healthier way.
What about low self-esteem or confidence?
CBT works well for this. It helps you challenge negative beliefs about yourself and build a more realistic and positive self-image over time.
Is CBT useful for relationship or communication problems?
Yes. CBT can teach skills like assertive communication, emotional awareness, and how to respond calmly in conflict, which can improve all kinds of relationships.
Resources to Get CBT
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