
CBT is one of the most effective therapies that help to change your behavior, thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs that often become difficult to manage and require therapeutic intervention. A licensed therapist teaches you to cope with the mental health issues you are having to improve your quality of life. Liz Chelak provides solution-focused, compassionate therapy to ensure your long-term well-being. She understands the problems you may be going through, works with you to identify your symptoms, and creates a treatment plan that fits your goals.
Begin personalized therapy, online or in-person, in West Palm Beach, and Boca Raton, FL.
Overwhelming emotions, thoughts, and behaviors need psychological treatment that helps to deal with unusual symptoms and prevent other complications. CBT is a goal-oriented, structured treatment that can address several mental illnesses and offers effective results within a given time.
Therapists prefer CBT because it enables them to identify and cope with specific challenges quickly and leads to better management of mental health issues as compared to other psychotherapies.
What is CBT?
CBT is a talking therapy that rationalizes negative thoughts and behaviors exhibited by patients. It makes you realize that your thoughts impact your emotions and behaviors, challenges cognitive errors, and reframes them to achieve improved outcomes.
The therapist helps you identify thoughts, patterns, and beliefs so you can adopt more realistic alternatives to manage your mental health issues like anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, eating disorders, and other mental health issues.
CBT is popular for being one of the most beneficial types of therapy. It encourages you to be your own therapist and take a practical approach towards treatment and prevent relapse.
How does CBT work?
CBT teaches you the most effective ways to alter your thoughts and actions, also known as cognitions and behaviors. This is why it is called cognitive behavioral therapy.
Three levels of cognition are:
Core beliefs
Core beliefs develop in childhood and they are influenced by early experiences. They are deeply rooted in your system and define negative views about your own self, the world or environment, and the future.
Dysfunctional assumptions or cognitive distortions
Core beliefs develop in childhood and they are influenced by early experiences.
They are deeply rooted in your system and define negative views about your own self, the world or environment, and the future.
Automatic negative thoughts
Negative thoughts can occur automatically as we perceive things in our routine life. They are often difficult to recognize because don’t perceive them deliberately but they can result in negative emotions. The best way to address these negative thoughts is by modifying your thoughts and focusing on them in a more rational and positive manner.
It is important to know that your therapist will customize treatment to address your unique problems but CBT has underlying principles for everyone. Your treatment will be based on those principles for structured, coherent outcomes.
For more information about our counselors or to schedule an appointment for your therapy, call our office by number:
(561) 363-7994Principles of CBT
Principles of CBT offer an insight into how this therapy works and benefits people with various mental health issues. Read on to find out more about the principles that underlie cognitive behavior therapy for all patients.
1.CBT is based on an ever-evolving formulation of patients’ problems and an individual conceptualization of each patient in cognitive terms
The therapist identifies the existing thinking patterns and problematic behaviors of an individual. They consider several factors, including their life experiences through the therapy sessions. A conceptualization of the patient is formulated based on the information to provide an accurate picture of the whole situation. This conceptualization is refined in each session as the therapist gathers more information.
2.CBT requires a sound therapeutic relationship with the therapist
Before the therapy starts, therapists establish a strong, trusting relationship with their patients. The therapist should be able to provide care, warmth, and empathy with competence. They should also share the proposed treatment plan with patients and seek their feedback at the end of each session to ensure things are progressing in the right direction.
3.CBT emphasizes collaboration and active participation
This type of therapy emphasizes the significance of cooperation. It focuses on motivating a patient to engage in the process of their recovery. Teamwork is encouraged throughout the sessions and decisions about what to do and how are determined together. Active participation from the patient is essential as it helps in making a lasting impact on their treatment.
Patients should also be open to trying new techniques that the therapist recommends for the best outcomes.
4.CBT is goal-oriented and problem-focused
CBT focuses on the specific needs of the patients and strives to adopt a systematic approach that has been curated for specific mental health problems. Unless their unique problems are addressed, patients cannot succeed in improving their mental health or recovering from their addiction.
Patients should set specific goals during the initial sessions so they can evaluate and respond to thoughts that interfere with these goals. This enables them to identify and interrupt those thoughts.
5.CBT prioritizes the present first
CBT encourages a patient to live in the present, think about the present, and focus on the current problem or task at hand. It prioritizes the current problems and specific situations that are distressing to them.
CBT only considers the past when the patients get stuck in dysfunctional thinking when learning more about childhood is necessary for addressing current problems, or when the patient expresses a strong preference to do so, and it can play a significant role in modifying their core beliefs.
6.CBT aims to teach the patient to be their own therapist and emphasizes relapse prevention
CBT focuses on addressing the lack of understanding of the process and preventing relapse. Patients who don’t know how therapy works or how to fix distorted thinking will not make any progress. It helps the patient understand the process, how their thoughts influence emotions and behavior, what they can do to identify and evaluate their thoughts and beliefs, and how to plan for behavioral changes is an essential part of CBT.
The therapist and patient work together to recognize and analyze the causes of relapse and develop an approach to prevent them from happening.
7.CBT aims to be time-limited
Session duration is a key principle of cognitive behavioral therapy. Time-limited sessions exert pressure on the overall therapy process and create an expectancy effect. They allow the therapist to take over a directive role in therapy to maintain the focus and momentum of therapy and prevent the vagueness of the process.
Straightforward anxiety and depression can typically be treated within 6 to 14 sessions, but for people with more severe mental illnesses and rigid beliefs, this time can extend and range from a few months.
8.CBT sessions are structured
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a structured treatment that follows a set format so the patient doesn’t find it overwhelming or frustrating. It is because patients with addiction or other mental health issues can feel overwhelmed due to a lack of structure in their lives.
Structured treatment maximizes efficiency and effectiveness. Following a set format increases confidence in the process, instills feelings of calmness and relaxation, and increases adherence. Sticking to formats is easy and helps to achieve desired results.
9.CBT teaches patients to identify, evaluate, and respond to their dysfunctional thoughts and beliefs
Therapists use CBT to help patients learn how to recognize or identify disturbing thoughts or beliefs. Negative thinking, even if it is irrational, can disrupt the thought process, lead to dysfunctional beliefs, and further aggravate mental health problems.
This principle enables a therapist to empower patients so they can recognize this, and correct irrational thoughts by adopting a realistic approach to specific stimuli. They take patients through the process of guided discovery by questioning their thoughts to evaluate their thinking.
10.CBT uses a variety of techniques to change thinking, mood, and behavior
CBT aims to change an individual’s perception and action by employing cognitive, behavioral, and problem-solving techniques. The significance of this principle is that therapists choose techniques to address the specific needs of patients. The types of techniques selected will be influenced by the conceptualization of the patient, the problem being discussed, and the objectives for the session.
The patient’s thought patterns and behaviors can be modified as they learn new and healthy behaviors.
CBT treatment and results
Working with a trained therapist, you can look forward to the following with a CB treatment program:
- Structured and educational sessions – CBT sessions are not only well-structured, but they are also educational and focus on aspects outside of therapy as well.
- Collaborative – Therapists encourage your active participation in therapy to ensure positive changes for healing.
- Goal-oriented – Therapists know what treatment methods or techniques they should use to solve your problems.
- Time-based – CBT sessions are not meant to continue for life. Most people require anywhere between 6 to 14 sessions in which you learn skills to deal with your problem and become your own therapist.
What you will learn with CBT
The main focus of cognitive behavioral therapy is to alter negative thoughts and behaviors to make them more rational.
With your CBT sessions, you can look forward to:
- Finding the problems and knowing more about your unhelpful thoughts and behaviors
- Realizing that your thoughts are just opinions and you must differentiate between facts and unreasonable thoughts
- Deliberately challenging and modifying dysfunctional assumptions
- Setting up goals that can be achieved
- Learning to be present and more gentle with yourself
- Adapting to see things in a positive way
- Being more resistant to problems and taking control
- Being your own therapist and coming up with ways to prevent relapse
Begin personalized therapy, online or in-person, in West Palm Beach, and Boca Raton, FL.
Why you should go for CBT?
Benefits of CBT include:
- It strives to bring a change to how and what you feel by shifting your thoughts and behaviors
- It teaches practical strategies that can be applied in daily life
- It teaches you to become your therapist and move forward, preventing the risk of relapse
- It can help treat a mental illness where medication has not been able to improve symptoms
Most people suffering from a wide range of health issues benefit from the cognitive-behavioral approach, evidence shows. However, it does not mean it is necessary for everyone or will benefit everyone from it the same way.
If you are struggling with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, PTSD, sleep disorders, or addiction and suffering from its effects in your daily life, it is time to seek professional support. At the Trauma Therapy Center, Liz Chelak works with you to put you on the path to healing. Liz helps you identify the negative thinking patterns and beliefs that are having adverse effects on your life and emotions so you can understand yourself better and develop the capacity for self-change and discovery. She specializes in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health illnesses for a healthier you.