Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
What is CBT?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a widely recognized and highly effective treatment for anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD). CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts, behaviors, and emotions that contribute to anxiety-related, mood-related, and OCD-related disorders. It is a skills-based approach, meaning clients learn strategies during therapy that they can apply in everyday life.
How CBT Works
CBT is structured around six key components, though not all CBT treatments employ each component:
Psychoeducation: Clients are educated about their anxiety disorder, including what triggers their symptoms and how CBT addresses these issues.
Mindfulness Training: Learning to stay present, mindfulness helps clients refocus their attention away from anxious thoughts about the past or future. It also teaches individuals how to step back from self-critical thoughts and view their experiences with neutrality, rather than judgment.
Cognitive Restructuring: Clients identify maladaptive thoughts, such as assuming the worst-case scenario or catastrophizing. For example, someone with social anxiety may believe they’ll be harshly judged if their voice shakes during a presentation. Cognitive restructuring involves evaluating the evidence behind these thoughts and replacing them with more balanced, adaptive beliefs.
Problem-Solving: When anxiety stems from real-life challenges, CBT offers problem-solving strategies. Clients learn to identify problems, choose the best approach to address them, and evaluate their solutions.
Exposure: Clients gradually face anxiety-provoking situations, starting with lower anxiety triggers and working up to more challenging ones. For example, someone with a fear of contamination may begin by touching a doorknob and eventually work up to more difficult exposure exercises. Exposure helps clients learn that feared situations are often less dangerous than they imagine.
Ritual Prevention: In cases like OCD, clients are encouraged to resist rituals or safety behaviors (e.g., excessive hand washing) that they typically use to manage anxiety. By preventing these rituals, clients can break the cycle of anxiety and avoid reliance on safety behaviors.
Who Can Benefit from CBT?
CBT is ideal for adults with anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobias, and related conditions such as OCD, PTSD, and body-focused repetitive behaviors like trichotillomania (hair-pulling) or excoriation (skin-picking). Even without a formal diagnosis, individuals experiencing excessive anxiety or depression that interferes with daily life can benefit from CBT.
Length and Structure of Treatment
CBT typically lasts 16-20 sessions but may be extended if necessary. Most clients complete treatment within a year, with weekly sessions lasting 55-60 minutes. In some cases, twice-weekly sessions may be offered depending on the severity of the issue and the availability of the therapist.