Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective forms of psychological intervention to help deal with emotional symptoms that are disruptive to our healthy and happy daily functioning. Anxiety, depression, insomnia, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and even some psychotic conditions like schizophrenia can benefit from CBT, especially in combination with medication. CBT can help with habit change and overcoming addiction. There is now evidence that changes in brain cell activity as measured by glucose metabolism in the brain, particularly in the caudate nucleus can occur in response to CBT, similar to changes that occur in response to medication. Dr. Aaron Beck is the founder of CBT and Dr. David Burns has built on the original work.

So what can we learn from CBT that can help us optimize our emotional states and ultimately the quality of our daily functioning and life experience? How can we utilize the tools of CBT to change behaviors that we find undesirable? First of all, CBT is a pragmatic form of treatment. It is focused on current symptom management rather than exploring past root causes. It is discrete and time limited. It is goal directed. It explores current thinking patterns and potential thought distortions that may occur as well as the influence of these thoughts on our emotions and behavior. While it can be done individually with computer programs, it is probably more effective when done by establishing a therapeutic relationship with a skilled practitioner. There are exercises and assignments designed to help overcome the symptoms, and the client directs the goal setting and behavioral exercises in consultation with the therapist. Some of the same techniques are used by life coaches and personal trainers to help people achieve their life or fitness goals. It has philosophical roots in stoicism, in that stoics believed that thoughts controlled emotions and that the path to happiness was in acceptance rather than being controlled by desire or fear. Stoics also believe that destructive emotions often result from judgement errors.

CBT is based on the cognitive model that how we perceive situations influences how we feel emotionally. Distress is often caused by distorted or unrealistic perceptions of situations. It posits a conception of the mind with core values at the center, and self, others and the future as the 3 primary categories of personal concern. It states that these core values influence thoughts, emotions and behavior, and each of these elements influence each other. As individuals we often manifest automatic thoughts about ourselves, the world and the future. These automatic thoughts can be distorted, especially when we are depressed or anxious. The goal of CBT is to examine these automatic thoughts and these cognitive distortions and to think more realistically. Learning to overcome distorted automatic thoughts and change some core beliefs about ourselves, other people and the future can lead to long lasting change as well as improvement in emotional state and behavioral functioning. The treatment gives people the skills to continue to examine their thoughts and perceptions, to make small changes in thinking and behavior, and to make action plans for solving problems after the therapy has ended.

We can all learn from the common cognitive distortions that influence our thinking and our emotions and behavior. Some of these distortions include overgeneralizing, catastrophizing, selective filtering, polarizing, personalizing, jumping to conclusions, blaming, emotional reasoning, fallacies of control, mislabeling and fallacies of fairness and change. By exploring these cognitive traps, recognizing them when they occur in us, and learning to overcome these common tendencies we can improve our reasoning and consequently feel better.

Overgeneralizing and jumping to conclusions are similar in that we sometimes take very limited information and apply it too broadly. This gives a distorted, incorrect view of reality.
Catastrophizing and selective filtering both involve focusing on the negative aspects of any situation. In the case of catastophizing, the dominant focus is on the worst case scenario which may crowd out recognition of opportunity or exploration.

Polarizing conveys the tendency to see things as black or white, all or nothing. Someone who says or does something wrong is judged as all bad or a failure. This fallacy is sometimes applied to oneself and is detrimental to the appreciation of human complexity and the opportunity for growth.

Personalizing places a misguided importance of the influence of any one person on a situation or events. This can cause incorrect attribution of the motives and actions of others.
Emotional reasoning concludes that negative feelings must reflect the truth, simply because they are felt. Hence, if someone feels like a failure, by emotional reasoning they conclude that they are in fact a failure even when there is evidence to the contrary.

Blaming involves holding other people responsible for our own pain, and also taking undue responsibility for every problem. Similarly, fallacies of control involve incorrect attribution of control of other peoples states to ourselves, even when it is not related. Feeling as a helpless victim of external circumstance is another control fallacy which undermines one’s own power to choose response and action.

Mislabeling is a form of generalizing from limited information and applying a negative connotation in the form of a label or description of people or self.
Fallacy of change describes our hope that others will change to suit us because our happiness depends on it. It can set up unrealistic expectations and also gives up the responsibility for our own contentment. Fallacy of fairness causes us to feel resentment at the natural unfairness of life. This can lead to negative emotional states, rather than empowering resilience to strive and overcome any situation.

Knowledge is power. In gaining insight and knowledge about the functioning of our minds, we can gain the power to positively influence our own emotional states and improve our energy and our behavior. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a great tool to help us to feel better and to adapt to the changes, the unfairness and the stresses of daily living. It is a great tool to overcome the barriers of anxiety, depression, addiction and other emotional ills that prevent us from living our best life.