Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Effective for Mental Health?
There are many situations in life that cause stress. Knowing how to effectively deal with those situations is the key to having a generally healthy mental outlook. Not everyone who is treated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been diagnosed with a mental health disorder.
CBT can provide tools that may reduce anxiety and stress associated with general life situations. Such situations may include:
- Stressful relationships
- Grief
- Work-related stressors
- Various phobias
- Social challenges
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may be used alone to address mental health problems, or it may be combined with other types of therapies. Alone, cognitive behavioral therapy is used for its ability to pinpoint strategies to better resolve the problems that are creating stress and anxiety in your daily life. Learning how to effectively deal with these problems in a productive way will allow your mental health to become balanced.
The Process of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Newport Beach (CBT)
The first step in the process of undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy is to find a therapist with whom you can trust and connect. It is important that you feel comfortable with this person. It is important to feel you can open up to your therapist and discuss your reasons for seeking their guidance.
Step One: Finding the Right Therapist
You need to find a therapist who is a good match for you. This search may be the longest part of the treatment process but is also a very important step. These are some questions to ask while searching for the therapist that matches your needs:
- What is the therapist’s approach?
- How long does each session last?
- What are the goals of therapy?
- How many therapy sessions will be necessary?
Step Two: Making the Most of Your Therapy Sessions
The first part of the therapy process will include sessions where your therapist will get to know you and gather more information. He or she will want to know about your current physical and emotional health and the current problems you are facing. You will also have the opportunity to talk about what your expectations of therapy are, and how to meet those expectations realistically. Discussing these topics will allow for a plan to be created that matches your goals.
Step Three: Tools Used During and Outside of Therapy Sessions
Therapy sessions provide the opportunity for you to discuss the struggles that are overwhelming your life. If you find it hard to open up, it is the job of your therapist to guide you with questions and encourage you to talk freely about these struggles. Discussions with your therapist are only one part of CBT options. Other strategies that may be included in your therapy include:
- Recording your thoughts in a journal: allows you to see a possible pattern to your reactions to your thoughts and/or behaviors
- Role-playing activities: requires you to put yourself in situations where you have to make careful, thoughtful decisions
- Group discussions: produce discussions that may cause you to realize that you are not alone in your struggles
- Relaxation techniques: teach you how to step away from a stressful situation and focus on what is important and not have a knee-jerk reaction at the moment
- Homework assignments: provided so that you can practice what you’ve discussed with your therapist during a session
Step Four: Practice Makes Perfect
It is the hope that you continue your therapy sessions and practice what you learn at each one in your daily life. The process of changing your mental health may not happen as fast as you would like, but this is no reason to give up. Changing the way you process thoughts and behaviors takes time and patience. It is important to let your therapist know when you are struggling, as he or she can then make any necessary changes to your treatment plan.
The Three Components of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT includes both the word “cognitive” and “behavioral.” Those words are very important in the treatment process. The definition of cognitive places focus on “involving conscious intellectual activity” – which involves thinking, problem-solving, and remembering. The behavior side of CBT focuses on ways that you can adjust your reactions to the problems you are facing.
What we are thinking can trickle over to how we are feeling and how we react. The components of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focus on three things that relate to each other:
- How we think
- How we feel
- How we act
Cognitive Process And How We Think
In relation to the cognitive process of CBT, your therapy sessions will teach you how to distinguish between your own view of reality and what is actual reality. Your therapist will provide guidance and support to teach you how to recognize when your outlook or thoughts are not realistic. The goal is to guide you to identify when you recognize that you are having thoughts that are not healthy.
Cognitive Process and How We Feel
Once you are able to recognize your distorted, unhealthy thoughts you can then work on having an overall change in your mindset. As a result, your beliefs begin to change for the better. This renewed perspective allows your mental health to get stronger and more resilient.
Behavioral Process and Actions
Altering the way that you behave and/or react to the situations and challenges that you face in your life is key to your mental health. When you are struggling with a stressful situation it is possible that you will have an unhealthy reaction. By learning how to process the difficult times with a new perspective you will then be able to react and deal with the situation better.
What Types of Mental Health Disorders Are Treated With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?
Cognitive behavioral therapy is not only used to treat social challenges but also used to treat many mental health disorders. There are times when cognitive behavioral therapy is used in conjunction with medications. The first CBT model was used to treat depression, but it is known to help treat these other disorders as well:
The emphasis of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is to allow you to become your own therapist of sorts. The result is to make you more aware of the way you process events and react to those events. The techniques you will learn in your CBT sessions provide a future where you are in control of a more settled emotional well-being.
How Lido Wellness Center Can Help
Life is full of ups and downs. How you or your loved one handles the tough times can have a drastic effect on your mental health. Lido Wellness Center is here to help when you feel that your life has become overwhelming and unmanageable. We are a partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient mental health facility that is located in beautiful Newport Beach, California.
We will provide you or your loved one with an individualized treatment plan that will be focused on treating the whole person. Our holistic and comprehensive mental health approach will allow you to regain a healthy outlook on life. How we think, how we feel, and how we behave are all linked to our emotional and physical health.
If you or a loved one are struggling to balance your approach to life please contact us. Our mental health specialists at Lido Wellness Center can provide the professional help you or your loved one needs in order to make a life-changing difference for your future. We look forward to hearing from you.
